If reports are true, a meeting between Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter and head coach Lane Kiffin has been underway for more than an hour.
We’re still waiting for an announcement, in whatever form that’ll come in.
Last week it was a social media post by Carter on the site formerly known as Twitter. Today? Who knows.
Whatever format the announcement comes, it needs to include two things:
First, obviously, is Kiffin staying at Ole Miss or leaving for LSU?
Second, will Kiffin coach the Rebels in the College Football Playoff and/or possibly the SEC Championship game?
This writer is tired of writing about the first, but hasn’t touched the second one.
Let him coach or not?
Let’s put aside the clear and obvious public relations push going on in the media saying it’s wrong, or Ole Miss should let Kiffin finish what him and this team started.
Let’s look at the two angles involved.
Why Kiffin should coach in the CFP
The first is the unpopular opinion and that is there’s some merit to letting Kiffin continue to coach the Rebels.
Ole Miss would be at risk of losing a home playoff game if the CFP committee deems that variable worthy of demotion.
And the players have a chance at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: win a national championship. Is it wrong to weaken their chance at winning the ultimate prize?
Having Kiffin as the head coach gives Ole Miss the best chance at being the only playoff team to end its season with a celebration. Is it worth risking not being at your best?
Why Kiffin shouldn’t coach in the CFP
The second is the popular opinion, which is Carter cannot let Kiffin continue to coach the Rebels.
If Ole Miss does go on to win a national title, it would always have an asterisk next to it. Won with a coach who accepted a job at a rival school. How would that look?
Wouldn’t the celebrations be a little dampened knowing Kiffin is leaving the next day?
There’s also the fear of Kiffin recruiting current Ole Miss players, commits and recruits to LSU in the lead up to early signing day and the start of the transfer portal.
And the fact the school Kiffin may leave for is one of the Rebels’ three annual opponents in the new, nine-game SEC format, is even more reason to tell Kiffin, “thanks for getting us here, we’ll take it from here.”
Kiffin choosing to leave Ole Miss makes one thing clear. He doesn’t think he can win a national championship in Oxford and Baton Rouge gives him the better chance.
Can you really let a coach like that actually win a national championship one day and leave for a rival the following day?
Final Opinion
From the start of all this, I thought if Ole Miss was going to be in the playoffs, there’s no way Kiffin leaves. Why give up the chance to lead a team into the playoff for the chance of potentially leading a different team to the playoff?
I wrote that with the assumption it was either leave and don’t coach in the playoffs. Or stay and maybe win a national championship.
Kiffin can’t be the Ole Miss coach in the playoffs. It should be non-negotiable, like Kiffin’s hot yoga.
A compromise could be letting Kiffin coach the SEC Championship game and not the playoffs, if Alabama loses to Auburn later tonight.
But then again, that would stain what would be the only SEC championship in Ole Miss history.
