Auburn Coaching Search: Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin A Top Target?

As things heat up on The Plains, are Auburn’s eyes focused on Lane Kiffin?

If you're a fan of the Ole Miss Rebels, on one hand, it's a good thing that Lane Kiffin's name comes up when head coaching jobs open across the country. It means you're winning.

On the other hand, Kiffin has led the Rebels to their best start since Johnny Vaught was the team's head coach in 1962, and his departure would certainly be detrimental to that momentum. 

The most recent installment of this trend has come with the opening of the head coaching position for the Auburn Tigers. Rumors had swirled since the offseason that Bryan Harsin's days on The Plains were numbered, and now that he has been terminated, is Lane Kiffin the top candidate to replace him? Would Kiffin leave what he has built in Oxford for this new opening at an SEC West rival?

While the Rebels' head coach has a history of departing jobs overnight, just because a new opportunity has possibly arisen at Auburn does not mean that he is an automatic candidate for the job. The Tigers' booster situation is less-than-ideal, and Kiffin has already established momentum in Oxford that he would have to recreate if he were to leave.

That's not to say it's impossible that Kiffin would be interested in the job, but it's not a guarantee that he would take the job. If he is the top candidate for the position and is even interested, that doesn't mean that Ole Miss couldn't keep him. It would just have to negotiate, and money and NIL speak loudly these days.

Rumblings and speculation seem to indicate, however, that Auburn is very interested in Kiffin, to say the least. Would Kiffin take the Auburn job? I don’t know. I’m not even sure if he knows since Ole Miss still has games to play out this season.

Even so, we could see athletic director Keith Carter and the Rebels up the proverbial ante if they want to keep the coach who has brought so much success to their program in such a short time.

It is understandable that some Ole Miss fans are wary of these developments. Even though it happened in the 1990s, the ghosts of Tommy Tuberville's departure from Oxford to Auburn still linger in some people's minds. Today’s era of college football may be different, but it is still a development to watch moving forward.

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You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

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