Report: Lane Kiffin Tells Ole Miss Players He Isn't Leaving for Auburn amid Rumors

Ole Miss is preparing for its Thursday rivalry clash with Mississippi State, and head coach Lane Kiffin reportedly assured his players they don't have to worry about any coaching rumors as they do so.

According to Chris Low of ESPN, Kiffin met with the team Tuesday and told them he has not accepted a job elsewhere.

That is notable considering Jon Sokoloff of WCBI News reported Monday that Kiffin is planning to step down as Ole Miss' head coach on Friday to take the helm at Auburn.

"He told the players his focus was on Mississippi State and nothing else and that any reports out there about his accepting another offer were totally false," a source told Low.

Yet Low also reported Kiffin and Liberty's Hugh Freeze are seen as the frontrunners for the Auburn job that became available after the Tigers fired Bryan Harsin in October following a 3-5 start.

Former player Cadillac Williams, who was on the staff as the running backs coach when Harsin was fired, took over in an interim role. Auburn is 2-1 under Williams and has an opportunity to become bowl eligible if it stuns rival Alabama in the annual Iron Bowl matchup on Saturday.

Winning that game would help Williams make quite an impression if he is looking to keep the coaching job long-term, but Kiffin is a high-profile name who is familiar with the SEC West and competing against the likes of Alabama and LSU from his time with the Rebels.

He also had some fun with the situation on Monday night:

Things are trending in the wrong direction for Ole Miss this season following an impressive 7-0 start. It is just 1-3 in the last four and is entering the Egg Bowl matchup against Mississippi State after an ugly showing in a 42-27 defeat to Arkansas.

The Razorbacks were ahead 42-6 entering the fourth quarter.

Kiffin is 23-11 at Ole Miss since taking over ahead of the 2020 campaign. He has also been the head coach at Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic in addition to a stint with the Oakland Raiders that saw him go 5-15 from 2007 until he was fired after four games during the 2008 campaign.