Did Lane Kiffin just have his Lincoln Riley 2021 moment at Ole Miss?
Oh, boy.
It was impossible to avoid noticing how non-competitive Ole Miss was this past week against Arkansas. Sure, the Rebels faced the very real possibility of losing. The fact that the Rebels lost was hardly shocking. They just had a tough game against Alabama. They were physically beaten up and they just played a mentally draining game. Arkansas got quarterback K.J. Jefferson back in the lineup, and Jefferson played well. He looked physically fresh after missing some games with injuries.
Yet: Ole Miss didn’t really even show up.
Some commentators brought up the unavoidable point: Was this an example of Lane Kiffin being mentally done — having his mind on his next job and not his current one? Hashtag #WarEagle. Hashtag #LaneKiffinToAuburn.
This sounds familiar if you are an Oklahoma fan … and a USC fan.
Let’s explore this idea:
HERE WE GO!
Lane Kiffin checking out in November like Lincoln Riley did at Oklahoma? pic.twitter.com/g0o4EsSBNL
— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) November 20, 2022
OTHERS NOTICED
https://t.co/41Xay0Aqvb pic.twitter.com/xNQJAecMB6
— Patrick Conn (@PatrickConnCFB) November 20, 2022
KEEP IN MIND
This would not be the first time Lane Kiffin has left an SEC job — supposedly a really good one — for another school.
He left Tennessee after one season in 2009 to come to USC.
MANY ARE CONVINCED
You gotta feel bad for Lane Kiffin. It’s hard to put together a game plan while building a coaching staff and shopping for a house in Auburn.
— Brandon Walker (@BFW) November 20, 2022
KIFFIN PUSHES BACK
I asked Lane Kiffin about reports that Auburn has him as their No. 1 target.
He says he's "very excited about the future" at Ole Miss.
"I don't know that stuff out there — No. 1 stuff. Maybe if they watched the first half (vs. Arkansas) I wouldn't be No. 1 anymore then."
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) November 20, 2022
AUBURN CONTEXT
Lane Kiffin would only need a $300K bump to move from No. 12 to No. 10.
If Auburn offers Kiffin in the next 10 days, the salary is not going to be what draws him to Auburn or what keeps him at Ole Miss. https://t.co/R0mPMUS9QA
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) November 17, 2022
LINCOLN RILEY AT OKLAHOMA IN 2021
Many people in and around the Oklahoma football program would tell you that Lincoln Riley mentally checked out as the Sooner head coach late in the 2021 season, notably the Baylor game and then the Oklahoma State game, which the Sooners lost.
RILEY'S TURNING POINT
Oklahoma insiders thought Riley arrived at a point internally where he realized he would not get the level of support he needed in order to compete in the SEC. His mind turned to USC as a realistic possibility. Mike Bohn pounced. Sooner insiders would tell you that OU’s struggles late in the 2021 season were connected to Riley being less than fully focused on each Oklahoma game. His mind was focused on other pursuits.
RILEY FILES -- WE EXPLORED LINCOLN RILEY'S OU TENURE AND A LOT MORE
OLE MISS-ARKANSAS
Ole Miss was extremely sloppy: 12 penalties for 116 yards, plus three turnovers
DIDN'T SHOW UP
Ole Miss trailed 35-6 at halftime. The final score was 42-27, but Ole Miss trailed 42-6 after three quarters and collected a lot of garbage-time stats in the fourth quarter after Arkansas put in subs.
COUNTERPOINT
If you’re skeptical that Lane Kiffin had his Lincoln Riley moment, you would point to the fact that Ole Miss collected over 700 total yards. Teams aren’t quitting if they do that. Teams haven’t lost their head coach if they do that.
HOWEVER...
If you were to insist that Kiffin is not coaching Ole Miss as hard as he did earlier in the year, you would point to Arkansas completing 17 of 22 passes and rolling up over 500 total yards. Arkansas scored just 10 points a week earlier against LSU and was physically outplayed by Liberty’s defense in a loss to the Flames a few weeks earlier in Fayetteville.
COACHING CAROUSEL SPINS
The coaching carousel is reaching the point where hires are about to be made and other coaches are about to be fired.
Next weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Lincoln Riley’s hire at USC.
THE LESSON OF 2021
The 2021 coaching carousel provided two extraordinary stories: Riley leaving Oklahoma for USC and Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU.
The 2021 carousel taught us that movements which seemed ridiculous on the surface can’t be viewed as unrealistic anymore. Now, everything is in play as a possible scenario and can’t be written off so easily.
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