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ABC broadcast questions whether Ole Miss AD, decision-makers 'pushed' Lane Kiffin to leave

by: Alex Byington8 hours ago_AlexByington

Now that the 2025 Egg Bowl is officially in the books, following No. 7 Ole Miss‘ 38-19 road win Friday afternoon in Starkville, all eyes are on Lane Kiffin‘s pending announcement Saturday. Last Friday, Rebels athletic director Keith Carter released a statement revealing Kiffin would make an announcement about his future — whether he would remain at Ole Miss or accept another job elsewhere — at some point on Saturday.

Speculation about Kiffin’s future and what it means for three SEC programs — Florida, LSU and Ole Miss — has dominated the college football world for the better part of the last month. And with On3 insider Chris Low’s report earlier Friday that Kiffin will either stay in Oxford or leaving for Baton Rouge, both fanbases will be on pins and needles for the next 24 hours.

But with the seventh-ranked Rebels practically guaranteed a spot in this year’s College Football Playoff after finishing the regular season with a program-best 11-1 overall record, the question of whether Saturday’s deadline to make a decision is even necessary was raised by ABC/ESPN announcer Dave Pasch in the closing minutes of Friday night’s victory over Mississippi State. Especially given the expectation that, should Kiffin opt to leave, the Ole Miss administration won’t allow him to continue to coach the Rebels through the Playoffs.

“You have to wonder, again we were told from Keith Carter that there’s been no ultimatum, but clearly it is a decision that is (led) more by the administration than it is by Lane Kiffin in terms of the timing being tonight or tomorrow morning. You wonder if that pushed Lane Kiffin in another direction,” Pasch suggested. “Also the chance of bringing staff members. That’s the thing here is, it’s one thing … it’s ridiculous enough to think about the possibility of a head coach not being there to coach his team in the College Football Playoff. But you’ve got staff members, if he does leave, he’s going to want to take with him that may be on the same timeline as him. He wants them to go to work now if he can’t be there to coach the team.”

ABC/ESPN color commentator Dusty Dvoracek redirected the attention on the Ole Miss players, who will undoubtedly be the most impacted by Kiffin’s decision, especially should he decide to leave for LSU.

“And then all I think about is the players, and I just think, again, this could all be much ado about nothing,” Dvoracek said. “We may find out Marty Smith might be with Lane tonight on Lane Watch and we may find out tonight that he’s staying right there in Oxford. But if what you just spelled out transpires, I just think about this team and these players, and how unfortunate that would be for them.”

At least part of the thinking for having Kiffin make a decision Saturday is the impact it could have on Ole Miss’ — and in turn LSU’s — recruiting efforts, especially with the Early Signing Day set for next week and the transfer portal window in early January, smack dab in the middle of the Playoffs.

“It would be nice, (if) hopefully next year, we’re not having these conversations, because to your point Dusty, the calendar has been changed and we won’t need to have these conversations at the end of the season,” Pasch concluded.