Ole Miss’s dominant win against Oklahoma proved that Lane Kiffin doesn’t just stir the pot off the field but also on it. After grabbing the spotlight for sign-stealing comments on Brent Venables’s top-class defense, Kiffin hands him another blow. But it wasn’t a straight 26-34 win for Ole Miss, as Kiffin’s costly fourth-down gamble almost cost him the game. Yet he bet on himself, and the result’s pretty evident. Even insiders couldn’t help but gape at his move.

Lane Kiffin loves taking risks, and his surprising 4th and 1 at his own 25-yard line decision shook the entire nation. As he decided to play defense instead of punting and even went for it, aiming to convert a single yard despite having a 2-score lead. But that’s what makes him Kiffin, and The Ruffino & Joe Show’s Blake Ruffino praises him for his bold move.

“But I felt like I saw a coach who, with all the documentary things that happened with him, everything that’s going on right now, Joe, knows he’s going to win. He has so much faith in himself that you can’t outcoach me, sorry. He went for it on fourth down, and they didn’t get it. I thought it was a bad decision. Who’s saying they only got three points out of it?” Ruffino said. With that, the snap went directly to the running back, but it went over his head, and the result? Oklahoma got the possession at Ole Miss’s 15-yard line.

But only if they could have done anything about it, as they only got a field goal and the score was still 22-13. Ole Miss maintained its two-score cushion. It was almost like he knew Oklahoma couldn’t do much on it. Even Ruffino points out the same: “I know that’s the craziest part about it—that he knew they couldn’t score. He has so much faith in Pete Golding that he’s going to be able to dial things up.” That’s what Kiffin is all about: going the extra mile for his team, even if it means taking a risk. Remember how Ole Miss was the only team that was focusing more on mental preparation than conditioning, which Kiffin took from the NFL.

And this isn’t the first time Kiffin’s taken such a risk. Back in the 2021 season, in the first three games, Ole Miss went for 14 fourth downs and converted 12 of them. This shows how well Kiffin’s strategy worked. Then he tried doing the same against Alabama that year, but later failed on three fourth-down attempts, with a very risky one on their 31-yard line, after which their running back lost 4 yards. Something of the same sort happened against Florida back in 2020 when, during a 4th and 3 from Florida’s 19-yard line, Kiffin could have easily given Luke Logan a chance to go for a field goal, but instead the entire offense was on the ground. And the result? Matt Corral got sacked. But to date, Kiffin has no regrets about it.

Those risky moves have made him a coach that every team now wants to grab.

Is Lane Kiffin making a move to the Florida Gators?

After buzzing around for one and a half years about Billy Napier’s firing, Florida finally parted ways with him. Now, of all potential candidates to replace him, one name that keeps popping up is Lane Kiffin. Knowing his history of rebuilding programs like Florida Atlantic, where he went 27-13 from 2017 to 2019, and his 51-19 coaching record at Ole Miss with three 10-win seasons over that time, makes him a perfect replacement for Napier.

But after Ole Miss’s win against Oklahoma, Lane Kiffin’s contract automatically extends to one year on January 26. Which means Kiffin’s contract runs through Dec. 31, 2031. Apart from that, Kiffin’s entire life is settled in Oxford, with his kids studying there and family staying in town. Kiffin even made it clear on many instances that he’s loving his life in Ole Miss.

On top of it, after firing Billy Napier, Florida nearly owes him $21.7 million.  And Lane Kiffin is the 11th highest-paid coach in college football and is set to earn $9 million without bonuses. Now, after December, his buyout will go to $36.6 million, so giving up that amount of money won’t be an easy task for the Gators. So, it will be interesting to see if they could bring in Kiffin because, for now, that looks like a dream.