2025 is Lane Kiffin’s year, presumably. From Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, everybody wants a bit of Lane Kiffin. Amidst the political-level interest and a $13 million bag on the table, a college football insider predicts that Lane Kiffin would see himself in Mississippi next year.

On November 19, national insider J.D. Pickell hopped onto the Paul Finebaum show and predicted that Lane Kiffin is likely to turn down the rumored $13 million LSU job, despite its big-money appeal. Pickell pointed out that Kiffin’s major priority isn’t the paycheck, it’s having full control over his program.

He said: “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 explained that Kiffin thrives when he can run things his way, and the LSU job may not offer that kind of freedom.

“If I’m Lane Kiffin, if I’m leaving Ole Miss, who is going to give me the most runway and allowance to be Lane Kiffin? Because it’s proven it’s worked?” As lucrative as it seems, the LSU job comes with too many chefs in the kitchen, including boosters, administrators, and even politicians getting involved in the coaching search.

The Louisiana State Governor Jeff Landry personally put his own hands into the project Lane Kiffin: “Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry continues to get personally involved in the Tigers coaching hunt. At a political fundraiser in Baton Rouge tonight, Landry said he had spoken to Lane Kiffin ‘for two hours’ about the LSU gig. But he also joked that @MattMoscona knows more about the job search than he does, per source in the room.” Peter Hambly posted on his X on November 18th.

Pickell believes that Lane Kiffin’s style isn’t for everybody, and that level of oversight goes against Kiffin’s values of total control, making it an unlikely fit. “I don’t think the Lane Kiffin experience is for everybody…I think the Kirby Smart experience isn’t for everybody. I think the Nick Saban experience isn’t for everybody.”

Lane Kiffin thrives in situations where he has autonomy over his program rather than being constrained by outside interference. The Ole Miss Rebels gave him time to cook. Almost seven years later, Lane Kiffin is finally about to set his foot on the playoff door. Meanwhile, LSU is about to have its third coach since then. Even a $13 million offer might not be enough to lure Kiffin away. Pickell predicts he will probably stay at Ole Miss, valuing the freedom to run his program his way over moving to a high-profile program where his control would be limited.

But… what if he changes the team, will Ole Miss get punished for it by the playoff?

Ole Miss is in a top-notch spot to make the College Football Playoff. Right now, the CFP committee has them ranked No. 6. If things stay the same, they would play No. 13 Miami in the first round. The Rebels still have one more chance to impress when they face Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on November 28.

There’s some uncertainty because of rumors linking Lane Kiffin to LSU and Florida. Kiffin hasn’t signed a contract extension yet, and Ole Miss reportedly wants to know if he will stay for the 2026 season. Some reports even suggest that if Kiffin doesn’t commit, the school could stop him from coaching in the CFP.

The CFP committee considers whether a team’s key players and coaches will actually be available for the playoff. Dan Wolken reminded people that in 2023, Florida State went 13-0 but was left out of the playoff after losing its starting quarterback. Even though the backup led them to two wins, the committee chose Alabama instead.

It’s less likely Ole Miss would be left out in 2025 because the playoff now has 12 teams instead of 8. They might not get a first-round bye, but it would be hard for the committee to completely replace them with a team like Miami or BYU. Still, there is some chance the committee could punish a team if there are big changes in coaches or players before the playoff.