At the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, an electric crowd of 68,138 fans erupted in a single thunderous emotion. While a 50-year-old Kiffin, with his headset on, called plays on the sidelines, the stadium shook with the cheers of ‘We want Lane’ as the Rebels snuffed out Florida in a stellar performance. It’s this desperate need for him that could easily make him push for a bigger contract, especially to match his other rival’s offer.

Saturday night couldn’t be more dramatic. Speculation had it that Florida was pushing to get Kiffin to move to Gainesville. But Lane Kiffin hit back with a biting retort by crushing the Swamp, 34-24 in an SEC showdown. Post-game, he had just one emotion raging on his lips, “I love what we are doing here.” Following the sweet triumph, Ole Miss has almost locked in its playoff ambitions, and now Kiffin has the leverage.

“They’re calling this the Kiffin Bowl,” Johnny Manziel starts in a conversation with Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe. “I don’t take the Florida job if I’m Lane Kiffin.” So far, constant chatter regarding LSU and Florida gigs has the Ole Miss faithful biting their nails in anticipation. However, with a 10-win drive, Kiffin has the upper hand against the Ole Miss administration and can use it to his advantage.

With a crowded coaching carousel, programs reluctant to let go of their head coaches have renewed their contracts, locking them in. Nebraska did it. Indiana chalked it up to $92.8 million, even Mike Elko reportedly dialed in an $11 million per year gig. Will Ole Miss extend his pay raise? They’d better if they want to retain him.

Manziel continues, “I think it takes, and if I were him…I get this offer from not Florida. I get this offer from LSU,” he says, emphasizing, “That’s the job.” He goes on, “It takes $13-15 million, a crib in the bayou. It takes two cars…It takes the jet wherever I want to go, whenever I want to go. If I’m getting everything, I’m leaving.”

Presently, Oxford’s pride is set to rake in $9 million, according to USA Today, with the Oklahoma win getting him an automatic one-year extension. However, the stakes regarding rival programs reaching out to him are high, and the Rebels might need to take quick action.” Johnny Manziel continues,”…If not, I’ll take the 13 million I get from Old Miss, and we’ll continue to build something.”

As of now, Kirby Smart reportedly receives $13 million per year. If Ole Miss wants to retain Lane Kiffin, it might need to level up to that million-dollar amount.

Will Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss?

It’s high time, Oxford, pay its thanks to Landry Kiffin for stopping her dad from leaving Ole Miss after the Auburn head coaching gig surfaced. But now, in the face of Florida and LSU rumors swirling, will Kiffin leave? Landry might have already hinted at her approval for Baton Rouge, where he and Beau Whit Weeks are the linebackers.

Following the win over the Swamp, a confident Lane Kiffin was asked about those rumors. A celebrated shot, he admitted that he loves Ole Miss. “Today was awesome. I love what we’re doing here,” he added. “To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today.”

However, Coach Kiffin had been vague regarding his answer. Though he admitted his love for the Ole Miss football, he didn’t refute the Florida and LSU rumors, did he? However, according to the latest intel by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and Ralph Russo, Ole Miss “has been willing to say yes to just about anything Kiffin asks for in Oxford.” The question at hand is more about where he wants to be.

So, when he said, “We’ve got a lot of things going here, doing really well, and I love it here; I’m in them right now for my life,” to the press, does that mean he is staying put at Oxford? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.