Reports: Lane Kiffin plans to remain at Ole Miss, Tigers focused on Hugh Freeze

Auburn coaching target Lane Kiffin has told Ole Miss he plans to remain in Oxford, per an ESPN report Saturday morning.

Chris Low of ESPN Tweeted the following at 9:30 a.m. ET: “Lane Kiffin has reiterated to @OleMissFB officials and staff members that his plan is to remain as the Rebels’ head coach and that he’s not going to @AuburnFootball, sources tell ESPN.”

Low later Tweeted this quote from Kiffin: “I had a meeting with the team and the staff and told them I was staying and it would be announced after the game. I didn’t want it to be about me staying before the game, but about the team.”

It is believed Kiffin has been Auburn’s top candidate for the position, which opened when Bryan Harsin was fired after going 9-12 in one and a half seasons with the Tigers.

With Kiffin apparently staying put at Ole Miss, who might now become the front-runner for the Auburn job?

While only athletic director John Cohen knows for sure, many eyes now are on Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, who once held the same position at Ole Miss.

Per Pete Thamel of ESPN: “Sources: Auburn has been in discussion with Hugh Freeze for weeks about him becoming Auburn’s next coach. They won’t make a formal offer until after the Iron Bowl, but they’ve informally discussed contract and numbers with him for more than week.”

He added this: “Sources: Lane Kiffin’s Auburn candidacy had significantly cooled in the last 48 hours. The pull of his family wanting to stay in Oxford had become an obstacle for both sides in Kiffin becoming the next Auburn coach.”

Now in his fourth season as head coach at Liberty, Freeze, known for his innovative offenses, is 34-14 with the Flames and has three bowl appearances. Prior to that, Freeze spent five seasons at Ole Miss, where he had a good amount of success before running afoul with the NCAA. In fact, the Rebels actually beat Alabama in back-to-back years (2014, ’15) as Freeze became only the third college coach to beat Nick Saban in consecutive seasons. In  2016, the NCAA charged Ole Miss with several recruiting violations and Freeze later was forced to resign. On the field, Ole Miss went 39–25 under his watch. But the Rebels had to vacate 27 of those wins, making his official record 12–25. Prior to coaching at Ole Miss, Freeze went 10-2 in one season at Arkansas State and 20–5 at NAIA Lambuth. Additionally, he spent 10 years as head coach at Briarcrest Christian in Memphis, Tenn.

If it’s not Freeze, Brian Johnson, the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, potentially is someone to watch. Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson reported this earlier in week: “Johnson’s interview with Cohen earlier in the search was extremely impressive. That makes sense. Cohen’s combination of longtime coach and longtime AD makes him an interesting evaluator of candidates and interviews. There weren’t many expectations before Johnson interviewed, but following, Johnson has remained near the top of the list in terms of candidates that have really impressed Cohen, sources say. Johnson is well respected in NFL circles. He’s the real deal in terms of potential.”

Johnson was born in Texas and attended Utah. He was an outstanding college quarterback who started his career backing up Heisman finalist Alex Smith, then went on to amass nearly 9,000 total yards and 69 touchdowns. Most immediately, Johnson has turned around the career of Jalen Hurts and has helped the Eagles to a 9-1 start in 2022. From 2018-20, Johnson enjoyed a highly successful three-year stint at Florida. As the offensive coordinator in 2020, Johnson led the Gators to the most prolific passing offense (387.6 ypg) in the FBS while ranking seventh in total offense (509.8 ypg) and eighth in scoring offense (39.8 ppg). That’s the season Kyle Trask threw 43 touchdowns and 8 picks. Johnson was previously QB coach at Utah (2010-11), OC and QB coach at Utah (2012-13), QB coach at Mississippi State (2014-16), OC and QB coach at Houston (2017).