Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
Three scenarios made sense for Lane Kiffin on Friday morning.
That number is down to two.
The first option was knowing he would stay at Ole Miss. In that case, he could have made the announcement that he was staying at Ole Miss to coach the College Football Playoff. He could have endeared himself to the Ole Miss faithful and galvanized his team entering a chase for a championship.
He didn’t.
Instead, after the biggest win of his career which cemented a playoff berth, the greatest regular season in Ole Miss history and a 50th win in five years, he left the door open to leaving it all behind.
“I’ve got to do some praying, figure this thing out,” Kiffin said. “I know today. I can get to that tomorrow. I live life about one day at a time. Maybe that doesn’t help me, but I’ve learned to live that way for about six years now. Five years. That helps me.”
That means he certainly has not decided to stay at Ole Miss.
Two options remain. He may have already made the decision to leave for LSU. He may truly not know what he’s going to do.
If he’s made his mind up to leave, every move he’s made makes sense. He sent his family to survey Baton Rouge. He made arrangements for his son, Knox, to play football next season. He dodged questions about it for two weeks and didn’t feel like a postgame celebration was the time to make that move. Saturday felt more palatable and private. Eli Drinkwitz signing an extension at Missouri and Florida bowing out of the Kiffin sweepstakes would also line up with a decision to head to Baton Rouge.
In the case he’s actually undecided, he could make the determination that Oxford is home over the next 24 hours. Kiffin was asked for a time of day for the announcement and didn’t bite.
He’ll leave Starkville Friday afternoon and make the hour drive to Tupelo to watch Knox play a playoff game. It another hour drive from Tupelo back to Oxford. Perhaps he’ll use the drive time to reflect on the season his program has produced. Perhaps he’ll make a decision on the road. Perhaps the drive time will just provide the minutes and hours needed to escape the spotlight of a packed stadium and pressure cooker of a press conference.
He can leak the news that he’s leaving at his discretion Saturday and board a plane in relative privacy to start a new chapter. That’s assuning there’s not an airport stakeout which is certainly possible at this point.
This three-week, round-the-clock headline is coming to an end either way. After rampant speculation, sourcing and he said, she said, the conclusion comes Saturday. Kiffin has dodged nearly every question he’s been asked about it for three weeks. He gave an answer when asked if he had to make his mind up Saturday.
“I feel like I’ve got to.”
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