The Lane Kiffin ‘will he go, will he stay’ drama has intensified with Mississippi football on its bye week during Week 13 of the 2025 college football season.
While No. 6 Mississippi (No. 6in the College Football Playoff committee ranking) is 10-1 on the field and likely a shoo-in for the 12-team CFP field, the focus this week has not been on the product on the field, but rather on Kiffin’s future.
Both Florida and LSU have been primarily focused on Kiffin as their replacement for Billy Napier and Brian Kelly, respectively. It was reported that Kiffin’s family was in Gainesville, Florida, on Sunday, Nov. 16 and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Monday, Nov. 17.
On Nov. 17, word broke that Ole Miss gave Kiffin an ultimatum to decide by the Egg Bowl next weekend vs. Mississippi State. Kiffin denied that it was the case while joining the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
Here’s the full debate between Finebaum and Smith:
Paul Finebaum, Stephen A. Smith debate Lane Kiffin
Here’s the full transcript between Finebaum and Smith on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Finebaum: “The bottom line is, if you want to stay at Ole Miss, and I don’t think he wants to, you say, ‘Yeah, I’m committed to Ole Miss. I got a new contract coming out in a couple of days and you have a signing ceremony. He attacked the question of whether there was an ultimatum. Certainly Ole Miss has told him, ‘You need to make a decision at some point.’
‘But think about this for a second, his family got a plane Sunday and then took that plane from Gainesville to Baton Rouge, and what are they doing? They’re looking around. His son is a top prospect, they wanted to look at high schools, which is perfectly alright, but this is all going on when Ole Miss is having its best season in about 60 years, hasn’t won a SEC championship since John Kennedy was president. And Lane is raging about all this stuff going on. Lane, it’s up to you. If you want to end the speculation, end it right now. But you haven’t ended it. All you have done is exacerbate it.”
Stephen A: “Y’all leave Lane Kiffin alone! We’re not going to do this! We not going to do this to this man. Listen, I’m going to bring it home: He’s in Oxford, Mississippi. OK? Let’s get this out of the way. Now listen ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to say it, y’all can’t say it. Don’t you dare say it, Paul. Don’t you dare say it, Doggie. Leave it to me. I’ll say it! The brothers ain’t trying to come to Oxford, Mississippi for the most part, compared to Gainesville or Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lets just call it what it is. You look at the job Lane Kiffin has done at Ole Miss, it’s phenomenal.
‘The man has won 74% of his games over the last six years. Ole Miss is in the picture. They can win a national championship. Lane Kiffin, his personality, his cache, it ain’t Nick Saban, he got to worry about. He’s got the potential to be another Nick Saban, but it’s not going to happen at Ole Miss. Not for years down the road to come. No, no, no, no, no. But Gainesville? At the University of Florida? Baton Rouge? Death Valley? LSU? That’s a different animal… From a recruiting standpoint, in terms of longevity, establishing the stayed level of success for many, many years to come, when you’re going up against Alabama, when you’re going up against Georgia, when you’re going up against teams like that. Ole Miss? I don’t have that kind of faith that a sustained level of excellence is incomparable to what those two programs have done under Kirby Smart and Nick Saban.
‘I don’t have that type of confidence. But that man, Lane Kiffin at LSU, that man, Lane Kiffin at Florida, oh that’s a different beast right there. Lane Kiffin knows what he’s talking about. The man has done his job, go out there, try and win a national championship, and then get your ass to Baton Rouge or get your ass to Gainesville, Florida. Stop playing games. He ain’t staying at Ole Miss. Get over it. Be happy you had him all of these years and be prepared to wave bye bye. That man will be gone to either Gainesville or Death Valley come January. You can book it because he ain’t stupid. He knows, everybody knows.”