ESPN has Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels pegged at 84% for the playoff, and fans buzz with joy. But while they ride the hype train, the thought of Kiffin skipping town has them sweating. Then, his daughter steps in and shakes the cage even more by visiting an SEC program that’s already on Kiffin’s list of suitors. It certainly makes the fan base hold its breath. 

On November 20, SEC Unfiltered dropped a clip that captured Kiffin’s daughter, Landry Kiffin. The caption was enough to send the Rebels fans into complete panic mode. It read, “Lane Kiffin’s daughter spotted at LSU’s Women’s Booster Club meeting earlier today in Baton Rouge. The plot thickens 👀👀👀.” 

Women move through the hall, but the viral video zooms in on Landry. The camera follows her as she breezes past the person filming, calm and composed. Kiffin’s daughter, as usual, looked elegant in a white colored spaghetti top paired with white colored trousers. The drama continues to build as Ole Miss gears up for a bye before facing Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on November 28.

The Athletic reported on November 17 that Ole Miss set a hard deadline for Kiffin to declare before the Egg Bowl. First shrugged off as gossip, the Kiffin family’s latest move has the Rebels pushing the coach to the brink. NOLA.com’s Wilson Alexander has reported that members of Kiffin’s family flew into Baton Rouge on a private jet to tour the city. However, the head coach has denied any such ultimatum burdened on him.

Meanwhile, after arranging the private jet to woo the Kiffin family, LSU is reportedly focusing on its main business now. That’s the offer they are going to bring to the head coach’s table. “What I’ve heard is substantial, like a very large financial package,” Alexander said on McElroy and Cubelic on WJOX Radio on November 20.

“I think that they would make him, put him up there with the highest-paid coaches in the country, which would be maybe over $13 million, something like that, on an annual basis.” Now that Landry is spotted at an essential event in the LSU camp, some believe that the cheque might already be ready for Kiffin. 

However, the other half still holds some hope. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Landry’s boyfriend, LSU linebacker Whit Weeks, spoke at the event. LSU rolls deep with booster clubs that run tiered membership systems, backing programs from gymnastics to swimming & diving to women’s hoops.

With the couple going public the week Ole Miss met LSU on September 27, Kiffin’s daughter made sure she was front and center to hear her boyfriend at the high-profile event. Just when it seemed the hints of Kiffin bolting for LSU couldn’t get any louder, another prediction rolled in.

Experts split on Lane Kiffin’s next move

Not just the program’s officials, even the politicians are getting involved to bring Kiffin to Baton Rouge. As Peter Hamby reported, LSU governor Jeff Landry had a “two hours” long talk with the Ole Miss head coach about the LSU job. With this, the plot began to thicken. Whenever the topic was about him leaving the Rebels squad, the head coach side-stepped the conversation. That’s when the mind games-playing stance comes up. 

As Locked on LSU’s host Matt Moscona stepped into the Ole Miss fans’ shoes to feel what they must be going through. “The one singular thing that Ole Miss fans collectively want to hear from Lane Kiffin is I’m not leaving Ole Miss,” said the analyst. “I’m staying at Ole Miss. That’s it. That’s all they want to hear. And he can’t say the one thing they want to hear. So everything else he says is noise.” However, amidst the big cheque buzz, J.D. Pickell dropped his take. 

According to him, Lane Kiffin isn’t chasing dollars; he’s chasing total control of his operation. “If you want to roll with Lane Kiffin as your guy, you give him complete oversight of the portal, of roster, of NIL, whatever he needs. He’s proven he can allow you to win football games,” Pickell said. With Ole Miss in total disarray, the Rebels fans are just counting the minutes until Kiffin reveals his plan.