Who Will Be Ole Miss HC in CFP If Lane Kiffin Leaves for LSU? Latest CFB Rumors

Ole Miss reportedly has eyes on a former NFL head coach as Lane Kiffin's potential replacement should he accept a job at LSU or Florida before the College Football Playoff.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach reported Friday that the Rebels are "likely" to hire former New York Giants coach Joe Judge as an interim replacement in case of Kiffin's departure.

Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter previously stated the school is expecting an announcement on Kiffin's future Saturday.

Kiffin told reporters ahead of Friday's Egg Bowl win at Mississippi State that he had yet to make his decision.

CBS Sports' John Talty previously reported that Ole Miss was "prepared" to turn to either Judge or defensive coordinator Pete Golding as potential interim options.

LSU might be the most likely candidate to hire Kiffin should he leave Ole Miss. ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Pete Thamel reported Friday that Florida "has shifted focus from Lane Kiffin in the school's coaching search, as the school has sensed through irregular communication that he is interested in other options."

The Rebels, which went into the weekend listed as No. 7 in the CFP rankings, improved to 11-1 following Friday's win.

Ole Miss will now head into Decision Day as a one-loss team. Should Texas defeat Texas A&M on Friday night and Auburn win over Alabama on Saturday, the Rebels would also clinch a spot in the SEC championship game, per ESPN's Heather Dinich.

CFP selection committee protocol states that teams' final ranking will be influenced by strength of schedule, head-to-head results and "other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team's performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance."

That indicates the Rebels' choice as to who to hire in case of Kiffin's potential departure could influence the team's final CFP ranking.

Judge, a former special teams assistant for the New England Patriots, became one of only two head coaches in NFL history to go directly from a special teams coaching gig to a head coaching role when the Giants hired him ahead of the 2020 campaign.

He led the Giants to a 10-23 overall record before he was fired in January 2022 following his second season with the team.

Judge then returned to the Patriots for two seasons before joining Ole Miss as a senior analyst in 2024.

He was interviewed for the UMass head coaching job last offseason before Ole Miss "made a strong push to keep" him, per The Athletic's Jeff Howe.

Judge was ultimately promoted to quarterbacks coach ahead of the 2025 season. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss described Judge as a "second father figure" when asked about him by WLOX's Matt DeGregorio earlier this month.

Should Kiffin announce his departure from Ole Miss on Saturday, Judge could be tasked with leading the Rebels into the program's debut playoff in his first head coaching gig since his dismissal by the Giants.