Prior to the Auburn Tigers’ hiring of former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze, the popular name to replace Bryan Harsin was current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. College football’s “troll king” has plenty of familiarity in the state of Alabama.
Kiffin was in charge of Nick Saban’s offense at Alabama from 2014 to 2016 before leaving for the Florida Atlantic head coaching position. He returned to the SEC as the head coach of Ole Miss for the 2020 season.
During the SEC spring meetings, Kiffin reflected on his decision to stay right with the Rebels instead of taking the Auburn opening.
“I have a daily reminder with a daughter who lives with me that I would have had to move away from – and not just live with me now, but she’s going to Ole Miss,” Kiffin said. “It makes that pretty easy.”
Kiffin could have reunited with former Tennessee basketball head coach Bruce Pearl, who is now at Auburn. Kiffin and Pearl were leading the football and men’s basketball programs for the Vols in 2009.
As for the upcoming season, the current and former Ole Miss head coaches will go head-to-head on Oct. 21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Last year the Rebels defeated the Tigers 48-34 for the first time since 2015.
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