In just six weeks of college football, Lane Kiffin has become one of the most desired coaches in the country. Every big-time struggling program wants a piece of Lane Kiffin, and for good reason. The Ole Miss Rebels are 5-0 this season, remaining 1 of only 4 undefeated teams in the SEC. Despite losing Jaxson Dart and Tre Harris to the NFL, the Rebels’ offense is still balling each week, all thanks to Kiffin and his play-calling. When you call plays and coach a team as well as Lane Kiffin has in 2025, it’s only a matter of time before some athletic director breaks the bank and offers you an enormous sum, which might be very hard to say no to. According to some SEC insiders, the only thing stopping a big-time SEC program from luring Lane Kiffin is Urban Meyer.

It’s been a minute since Urban Meyer said ‘adios’ to his coaching career and made a name for himself in broadcasting and TV. The former national championship-winning head coach is reportedly at the top of the list for the $12 million Florida Gators job, alongside Kiffin. On October 10th, Florida Gators insiders Christopher Hobbzilla, Jeff, and Paul Wilson hopped onto The Sports Blitz podcast and talked about the possibility of Urban Meyer or Lane Kiffin heading to Florida.

Paul Wilson asked, “So with all this being said, who is the leading contender online for this job?” Hobbzilla didn’t beat around the bush. “100% Lane Kiffin wants the job. I hear that he has, it’s making some wrinkles, basically, to try and to get Lane Kiffin. He wants to be a top-three paid coach, so he’s going to want, you know, $12 million a year. So that kind of, you know, threw a little wrench in the plan. And they’re waiting on Urban Meyer to say no because he is in contention for the job too.” Billy Napier might have slightly cooled his hot seat with their Week 6 win against Texas, but that doesn’t mean the Gators are sticking with him, especially knowing the fact that he’s 21–22 overall. Their schedule doesn’t help either. According to ESPN, they have one of the toughest schedules in the country.

The Billy Napier era in Florida has been so rough that the Gators are snooping around Lane Kiffin and trying to bring back Urban Meyer. According to Gators insiders, Lane Kiffin might be open to the Florida job for the right price. This means top-three head coach money. However, the Gators are hell-bent on getting Urban Meyer to bring them back to their glory days. It’s Lane Kiffin’s job if Urban Meyer declines the role. However, Meyer has said over and over again that he’s not interested in coaching at the moment.

But Chris also admitted he’s not sure whether Lane Kiffin is serious about the Gators or if it’s just another one of his famous trolls on Instagram: “If Urban says no, and Lane Kiffin definitely wants the job… I mean, he put on Instagram, and I know this could be one of his famous trolls. But it’s hard to believe you can work for Ole Miss and put that up and just not even care. I’m sure the guys at Ole Miss aren’t happy with that. It sounds funny, but I really believe that. Like, I mean, you’re Ole Miss University. I don’t see why they would want Gator propaganda on their coach’s Instagram.” The post in question showed Lane Kiffin appreciating Steve Spurrier in his Gators gear with the caption, “Steve Spurrier is the man. That’s who i want to be.” But if you’ve followed Lane Kiffin and his gimmicks, you know he’s definitely trolling.

Still, you can’t help but give props to what Lane Kiffin has done this season. He’s called the “Portal King” for a reason. This offseason, the man landed D2 national championship-winning QB Trinidad Chamberliss, who’s already cooking and building a reputation as a top level QB, despite being a backup. In his three starts, he’s already racked up two 300-yard games, including one against LSU’s defense. The Rebels’ offense is averaging 530.6 yards per game. That is 7th in the nation. It’s hard to imagine Lane Kiffin leaving the Rebels. However, it’s even harder to imagine the idea of Ole Miss letting him go.

Lane Kiffin opens up about the Rebels’ defense

One of the biggest challenges Ole Miss faces this year is that the defense is yet to cash in on their potential. Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels had a tough start this season because they only had 4 returning starters on defense. Last year, their defense was one of the best in the country, allowing just 14.4 points per game. But this year, things didn’t start well, especially in Week 3 against Arkansas, when they gave up 35 points. The offense had to save that game, but since then, the defense has started to play much better.

Kiffin said the team still has a lot of work to do to get back to last year’s level. “That was a really record-setting run defense. One of the best run, average per carry, in the last 15 years of college football. But we are improving and getting some DBs healthier and back. We had a really bad Arkansas game, and since then, we’ve played much better.”

The improvement showed in the next few games. The Rebels held Tulane to just 10 points and LSU to 19. Against LSU, the defense was especially strong, keeping their offense from finding any rhythm and holding them to just 254 total yards. That effort helped Ole Miss win the Magnolia Bowl, one of their biggest games of the year.

Kiffin also praised defensive coordinator Pete Golding for helping rebuild the defense after losing several great players to the NFL. He said the defense has been inconsistent but is clearly getting better. Kiffin knows they still have some tough games coming up, so continuing to improve on defense will be crucial for the rest of the season.