Category: sports

The latest on Lane Kiffin

Michael Cauble is the sports director at WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, and his post on X Sunday capped what was an interesting day when it came to waiting on a job decision by Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin.

It appeared the wait would not take much longer.

Website of The Athletic where Stewart Mandel reports Ole Miss wants an answer soon from its football coach.

However, Kiffin denied the university pushed for a decision by next week’s game.

“That’s absolutely not true,” he told Pat McAfee on Monday. “There’s been no ultimatum, anything like that at all. I don’t know where that came from. I love it here. It couldn’t be better.”

Sunday’s reporting by The Athletic came as The Advocate and On3 reported members of Kiffin’s family made visits to Gainesville on Sunday and Baton Rouge on Monday since Florida and LSU want to hire the hottest coaching candidate this season.

Speculation about Kiffin’s future comes as Ole Miss tries to keep the coach who has led the Rebels to a 10-1 season and a likely appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Kiffin has been public about his love of the university and of Oxford in his six seasons there, but the public pursuit of his services puts him in an enviable position — being in such high demand that he can make high dollar demands and get most, if not all, met.

Three fan bases and the college football world will soon find out what the future holds.

Kickoffs and tipoffs

Star indicates games will be played in Kansas City, Mo., at the Hall of Fame Classic and will be streamed on Peacock along with the television broadcast on the new NBC Sports Network.

The two Tuesday games will be streaming only (SEC+ for men, ESPN+ for women).

Thursday’s MSU women’s game will be streaming only (ESPN+).

Final from the Tad Pad

Ole Miss men’s basketball remains undefeated with a victory Friday night in the final game at Tad Smith Coliseum. Mississippi State men’s basketball hopes to rebound from its loss to a Top 25 team on Monday with a weekend win over SLU.

Saturday’s focus, however, is on football with the Bulldogs seeking a sixth win in hopes of becoming bowl eligible while the Rebels will play a Florida team with fans who would like to make Lane Kiffin the Gators’ new coach.

Another SEC coach out

Auburn Tigers

Auburn University has fired head football coach Hugh Freeze after a 10-3 loss to Kentucky at home Saturday.

Below is the formal announcement from the university:

AUBURN, Ala.— Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen announced on Sunday a change in leadership for the Auburn Football program. D.J. Durkin will serve as interim head coach. (NOTE: Durkin served as co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss under head coach Lane Kiffin for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.)

Statement from Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen

“I have informed Coach Freeze of my decision to make a change in leadership with the Auburn Football program. Coach Freeze is a man of integrity, and we are appreciative of his investment in Auburn and his relentless work over the last three years in bolstering our roster. Our expectations for Auburn Football are to annually compete for championships and the search for the next leader of Auburn Football begins immediately.”

Freeze later released a statement on X:

Freeze returned to the SEC five years after his 2017 resignation from Ole Miss, which was triggered by the revelation of a phone call made on his university phone to a number connected to an escort service.

He left Oxford with a 39-25 record that included a top 10 finish to the 2015 season with a Sugar Bowl victory. NCAA violations led to 27 of those wins being vacated.

Following four successful seasons at Liberty, Freeze arrived at Auburn with expectations he would return the Tigers to their winning ways.

However, his teams never finished above .500 in his three seasons on the Plains. His overall record coaching the Tigers is 15-19.

With Freeze’s firing, the Southeastern Conference now has four open football coaching jobs: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida and LSU.

Kiffin to the NFL?

Sports host Colin Cowherd on Friday pitched the idea of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin leaving college football for a return to the NFL by taking the head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins.

At the moment, Mike McDaniel is still the head coach. General manager Chris Grier and the Dolphins parted ways Friday.

Kiffin coached the Oakland Raiders in 2007 and finished with a 4-12 record. He was 1-3 in 2008 when owner Al Davis fired him.