Lane Kiffin remains tight-lipped regarding speculation linking him to the Florida and LSU coaching positions, and he asserts his ole Miss players aren’t preoccupied with his future plans. Despite intensifying rumors, particularly following Florida’s firing of Billy Napier on November 9th, Kiffin maintains a consistent policy of not addressing coaching speculation during the season, a stance he believes his team accepts.
Kiffin indicated November 16th that the current landscape of college football-with a greater influx of transfer players-has altered players’ focus. “I just don’t think kids think like maybe they used to, and you don’t have to address that so much,” he told reporters. “First off, a lot of these kids didn’t come hear out of high school, and are not five-year kids like they used to be. I just think kids don’t think near as much now about down the road. Especially when you’re on a playoff run. They are concerned about how can we win now, with this team?”
Kiffin points to Ole Miss’s 4-0 record as a game at Oklahoma on October 25th-where opposing fans notably performed the “Gator Chomp” gesture directed at him-as evidence that his team isn’t distracted. “We spend more time on this call with you guys (reporters) talking about are they distracted, by times 100, than with the players,” he stated.
The coach reiterated his long-standing policy of avoiding coaching rumor discussions during the season. ole Miss has an open week before concluding its regular season schedule with the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State on November 28th.
