Ole Miss AD Eyes New Lane Kiffin Contract After Franklin Firing, Cignetti Extension

Ole Miss football might take action to stop Lane Kiffin from potentially considering the head coaching vacancy at Penn State.

Rebels athletics director Keith Carter is being "proactive" regarding a new contract for Kiffin, he told Ole Miss Spirit's Chuck Rounsaville (h/t On3's Ben Garrett).

Kiffin's name has popped up as a potential candidate to replace James Franklin, who was fired by Penn State earlier this week.

The report comes one day after Indiana officially extended Curt Cignetti on an eight-year contract worth $11.6 million annually.

Kiffin is set to make $9 million in salary this season, good for 10th among college coaches, according to USA Today's 2025 salary rankings.

Carter told Rounsaville he has been actively speaking with Kiffin's agent Jimmy Sexton, who also represents Franklin, about a new deal for the Ole Miss coach.

According to Garrett, Sexton "is aiming to make Kiffin the highest-paid coach in the country."

"Of course I've been talking with Jimmy and I'm going to be proactive with working out a deal with Lane and Jimmy," Carter told Rounsaville (h/t Garrett). "I'd love to get something done like Indiana did with Curt Cignetti before the silly season starts. We'll see. I believe Lane's happy here, but you never know what can happen with coaches. That's why I'm being proactive in this process."

Kiffin most recently signed a six-year extension in December 2022. The deal included an automatic one-year extension triggered every Dec. 8, per Sam Hutchens of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger.

That clause has since been triggered twice, extending Kiffin's deal through 2030 as of last December.

When recently asked about the speculation regarding his next contract by On3's Chris Low, Kiffin answered, "If you just keep going and chasing, and you do that often, you're missing things right in front of you. You're always listening and looking, and that's been a really common theme in my life from a job standpoint, and from a personal standpoint, of just missing what was right there in front of me. So I think I view that much differently now."

Kiffin emphasized that quote by sharing a screenshot of Low's article Friday on his Instagram story.

Kiffin led Ole Miss to five bowl games, including three wins, over his first five seasons as head coach.

He could increase his changes of leading the Rebels to a College Football Playoff berth with a win during Saturday's game at No. 9 Georgia.