Lane Kiffin decision: Ole Miss coach to hold Sunday team meeting, will announce future afterwards

After hours on Saturday evening without much in the way of an update on Lane Kiffin and his coaching future, there’s finally some movement on the Ole Miss side. A team meeting has been scheduled for Sunday morning.

According to a report from ESPN’s Marty Smith citing Ole Miss sources, Kiffin will hold a 9 a.m. team meeting. He will then “have an announcement regarding his future afterwards.”

“Breaking news here at ESPN regarding Lane Kiffin’s future,” Smith reported at halftime of the broadcast of Notre Dame–Stanford. “Ole Miss sources tell me that Kiffin will hold a team meeting and address his team here in Oxford at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. After which there will be an announcement about his future.

“So it certainly appears that we’ll have a resolution regarding where Lane Kiffin will coach in 2026 on Sunday morning and we’ll let you know what that is as soon as we know it. All speculation certainly points to Kiffin making his way to Baton Rouge in 2026.”

On Saturday, there were a handful of developments related to the Lane Kiffin coaching carousel saga. First, Kiffin met with athletics director Keith Carter on Saturday evening. No public updates emerged from that meeting.

Meanwhile, per Yahoo! Sports‘ Ross Dellenger, LSU executives and Kiffin’s representatives held a call following the Tigers’ 17-13 loss to No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday. The University is sending two planes to Oxford on Sunday for Kiffin, his family, and others.

ESPN’s Marty Smith was camped out on the Ole Miss campus for much of the day, hoping to provide updates on things. He reported on the meeting with Carter.

“Lane Kiffin and athletic director Keith Carter concluded their meeting some 90 or so minutes ago,” ESPN‘s Marty Smith reported around 9:40 p.m. ET during Saturday night’s Alabama–Auburn game. “The sentiment here in Oxford, Mississippi right now is that Kiffin’s unwillingness to commit is an indicator of his desire to go.”

With that, the Lane Kiffin saga enters Sunday. Ole Miss learned late Saturday night that it will not play in the SEC Championship Game thanks to Alabama‘s victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl. So the next business for the Rebels is the College Football Playoff.

That brings things full circle. To the final reported sticking point in the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes.

“I’m told if he wanted to stay he would have already said so,” Smith reported earlier in the evening. “One sticking point still being considered, I’m told: If he did leave, whether or not he’ll coach the Ole Miss Rebels in the College Football Playoff.”