The college football world waits with bated breath on Saturday as Lane Kiffin makes his fateful decision between staying with Mississippi and jumping to lead LSU.
After spending the past few weeks of the season in limbo between the two schools, Kiffin has made clear he intends to have an answer today, and whatever he decides will have huge ramifications for both his near- and far-future.
Should Kiffin decide to leave for LSU, there’s a chance that he could be taken off the sideline as the Rebels make their run through the postseason due to the relentless push of the college football recruiting calendar. But if Kiffin decides to stay, it could mean he missed his best chance to get to a program where he could win multiple championships and potentially spend the next decade of his career.
Either way, the ripple effects of Kiffin’s coming decision will make waves well beyond his own coaching career. As ESPN’s Pete Thamel explained on College GameDay, Kiffin will be the biggest domino to fall in this coaching cycle so far, and will likely trigger moves from several other schools.
“There’s huge dominoes after Lane Kiffin,” Thamel said. “Let’s start with Tulane coach Jon Sumrall. He’s had significant interest from Auburn, significant interest from Florida. He could end up in the Ole Miss, LSU mix depending on what Lane does.”
Thamel made clear that Sumrall is the current favorite to take the Florida job, and that he expects a decision to come on Sunday, with Tulane playing its regular season finale on Saturday against Charlotte.
“The next domino, obviously, comes at Auburn,” Thamel continued. “DJ Durkin coaches in the Iron Bowl tonight as the interim. Opportunity looms for him to make a heck of a final impression. The Auburn job and the Arkansas job could end up intersecting Alex Golesh. Alex Golesh is the USF coach, he’s got an offer from Arkansas, there’s interest from Auburn, Ole Miss is also expected to be interested if Lane Kiffin leaves.”
.@PeteThamel with the latest on the college football coaching carousel ✍️
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 29, 2025
(via @CollegeGameDay) pic.twitter.com/5nIsSUyGuA
While Kiffin has made clear that the decision is weighing heavily on his mind, the college football world is a bit lucky that Ole Miss played its final regular season on Friday night, as it basically gives Kiffin the day to himself to make his decision while several other high-profile candidates for other jobs finish out their seasons on Saturday.
The table is set for one of the busiest coaching carousels we’ve ever seen in the modern era, and it will be Kiffin that ultimately opens the floodgates.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss-LSU Decision Impacts the Rest of the Coaching Carousel.
