Lane Kiffin promotes Deion Sanders as Power 5 candidate: ‘They should hire him’

As coaching vacancies continue to open across college football, two names have emerged as favorites on just about every hot board: Lane Kiffin and Deion Sanders. Both candidates work just down the road from one another, with the former at Ole Miss and the later at FCS powerhouse Jackson State.

Both coaches have become known for their ability to recruit, not only at the high school level, but in the transfer portal as well. While he would not bite on questions regarding his own candidacy, Lane Kiffin took time during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference to hype up Deion Sanders for a Power Five job.

“I think he’d do great,” said Kiffin. “I think that’s a great name and they should hire him. Great recruiter, great name. This is a different world we’re in now, because recruiting has always been important but now you have the portal. … You can change a roster faster than you ever could before. And you can lose a roster faster than you ever could before. So the ability to hire Deion and have that name right away and portal people wanting to play for him right away can flip a roster where before – realistically – it would take two to three years to truly turn a roster around, you can do it immediately.

“You see teams get depleted and then just look completely different the next year. Like our team. Picture out team without the portal, and take those guys out of there and look what it looks like.”

Each coach’s ability to flip a roster is no doubt a major factor in their candidacy at struggling programs, but the on-field results have been just as good. Both have now sustained success at their level and have many wondering what they could do with more resources.

Lane Kiffin on Auburn job

Lane Kiffin was also asked about him being a candidate for Auburn, saying he did not want to comment on the opening. However, he did state how happy he was with Ole Miss and “building something special” after a 10-win regular season last year and well on the way to the same in 2022.

“We don’t really comment on those things here,” Kiffin said. “A lot of times, they’re a product of players performing well, assistant coaches. We’re extremely happy here, got something special going. Have great support here from the administration, the chancellor.”

Kiffin would be a rare in-conference transition for head coaches, let alone the same division. Auburn would mark the third SEC program he would be in charge of, spending one season at Tennessee back in 2009. Since moving back into the SEC, Kiffin has a 23-9 overall record and 14-8 inside the conference.