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Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin Makes Decision Amid Florida Rumors

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Austin C. Boyd | Last updated Oct 24, 2025 3:30 PM ET

Florida's quest to get back atop the college football world hit another snag this season. Head coach Billy Napier was fired after a 3-4 start to the season.

There was a lot of excitement surrounding Napier following an impressive stint at Louisiana. However, he could never get things going at Florida.

The program is likely to go hard after some big names, and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is being talked about a lot. He has Ole Miss rolling with a 6-1 record, and the team could be headed to a College Football Playoff berth. Interest from big programs isn't new for Kiffin, but he's going to be intentional with how he handles the rumors.

Kiffin Going to Address Rumors With Team

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin.Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

In the past, Kiffin favored ignoring the rumors and not addressing them with his teams. According to ESPN's Molly McGrath, the coach is taking a different approach this time around.

"Lane Kiffin told me he usually doesn’t address those kind of coaching rumors in-season, because there’s so much more football to play, and there’s so many bigger things to focus on," McGrath said on Friday's episode of "SportsCenter," via On3. "But he’s actually going to do things differently today in their team meeting – he is going to address those (Florida) rumors with his players. He’s going to talk to them about it and say: ‘Hey, this is what happens when you win. This is a compliment to our players, our staff and our entire program.’ He wants to talk to his players about it because there’s so many new guys on their team this year that haven’t dealt with it before."

This doesn't mean that Kiffin plans to leave the program, but he's going to be more transparent with his team. He's helped build Ole Miss into one of the top programs in college football, but the Florida job could prove tempting. As long as he's honest with his players, nobody is going to fault him for taking a more prestigious job.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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