Friday was an emotional day for Ole Miss fans.
It started when reports of a meeting between Rebels’ coach Lane Kiffin and athletics director Keith Carter was planned for shortly after Friday’s practice.
Then it took almost four hours before any details of the meeting emerged and it came in the form of a statement from Carter. You can see the statement in the social media post below, but the important part is that an announcement on Kiffin’s future will come after the Egg Bowl.
Let’s lock in and focus on keeping the Golden Egg! pic.twitter.com/5xPfDozhl2
— Keith Carter (@KeithCarterOM) November 21, 2025
The statement was not well-received by Ole Miss fans and caused this writer to flip their prediction to Kiffin leaving Oxford for the swamp of Baton Rouge.
On Saturday, Paul Finebaum said on national television what we all thought about the statement.
“I’ll be a little more blunt. I don’t think it accomplished anything,” Finebaum said on SEC Nation. “It was just a completely vapid statement that meant nothing other than, ‘We had a meeting today, and we’ll tell you in eight days. Everybody known to mankind is aware that, after the Egg Bowl, Kiffin has to make a decision.
“And, by the way, after that game next Friday, he could easily say he’s staying at Ole Miss and then the Ole Miss fans can be outraged that all of us mean, old media people just made such a big deal about nothing.
“But, it seems like Keith Carter just fed the beast there… I mean, if he had an agreement with Lane Kiffin, he would just gone ahead and said, ‘We met today, and we’ve agreed to a new [contract].”
Taylor’s Take
That last paragraph is what made me believe Kiffin was planning to leave Ole Miss. I’ve softened somewhat on that opinion because of the news yesterday that LSU was still finalizing an offer.
But the statement wasn’t good. It was pointless, but if Kiffin truly hasn’t made a decision, then there’s not much else that could’ve been said.
Going silent wasn’t really an option because everyone knew about the meeting and were constantly hitting the refresh button on social media, message boards and websites.
Maybe we’ll hear something different at Kiffin’s weekly Monday press conference.
