Lane Kiffin's decision: Predicting the Ole Miss coach's decision and the SEC dominos that will follow originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is expected to make an announcement about his future sometime after the Egg Bowl on either Friday or Saturday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNo. 6 Ole Miss takes on Mississippi State on Friday. The Rebels are 10-1 and can all but clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff; not to mention beat the rival Bulldogs for the third straight season.
All of that has taken a backseat to a college football version of "The Decision." Where will Kiffin coach in 2026? How will that impact the College Football Playoff and rest of the coaching carousel in 2025?
A chain reaction. It won't be quite as impactful as Alabama coach Nick Saban's retirement – but there is a chance almost half of the schools in the SEC will have a new coach next season.
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhere will Lane Kiffin coach in 2026?
LSU. It's like an episode of "The Bachelor," and we think Kiffin will choose the purple-and-gold rose. Three of LSU's last four coaches have won national championships – including Saban. LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry – a former Tigers linebacker – makes the splash hire that allows the school to move on from the Brian Kelly era, which produced a 34-14 record from 2022-25.
Would Kiffin thrive at a high-powered program where the expectations are College Football Playoff every season while competing for national championships? He built that at Ole Miss in an almost under-appreciated fashion since taking over in 2020. Kiffin was 28-15 in four seasons with USC from 2010-13. We think he would do much better in Baton Rouge, La.., over a four-year period.
Once Kiffin takes that job, the SEC carousel will be spinning. Here is a look at our predictions for the other openings – including Auburn, Arkansas and Florida – which are open – and three schools that could come open as a result of the Kiffin decision.
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Coaching carousel predictions after Lane Kiffn's decision
Kenny DillinghamUSA Today
Florida: Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State coach
The Gators miss on Kiffin, and Dan Lanning appears entrenched at Oregon. Why not go get the coach who is a hybrid of those two coaches? Dillingham, 35, was the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2022 under Lanning, and he compiled a 22-15 record at Arizona State, which was a complete mess when he arrived in 2023. Dillingham is 5-1 against top-25 teams the last two seasons with the Sun Devils, and the lone loss was a 39-31 double-overtime loss to No. 4 Texas in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. He's built for this job.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAuburn: Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri coach
Drinkwitz, 42, is 57-29 as a head coach between stints at Appalachian State and Missouri. He's made Missouri a player in the SEC race each of the last three seasons with a 28-9 record. Missouri, however, is 2-9 against ranked SEC teams during that stretch. That's better than Auburn's 1-13 record against ranked SEC teams since 2023, and Missouri is 2-0 against Auburn the last two seasons. That begs the question whether this would be a lateral move of sorts for Drinkwitz, but Auburn can shell out for this hire.
Missouri: Collin Klein, Texas A&M offensive coordinator
The Tigers would need a coach then. Klein, 36, a former Kansas State quarterback, would be an interesting fit at Missouri. Klein led the Wildcats to a 24-17 victory against the Tigers in Missouri's final season in the Big 12 in 2011. Klein thrived as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator the last two seasons, and the work with Marcel Reed continues to shine. If not Klein, then Missouri should take a look at Toledo coach Jason Candle, who just passed Gary Pinkel as the school's all-time winningest coach. Pinkel did just fine at Missouri.
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Kentucky: Jon Sumrall, Tulane coach
Mark Stoops, 58, has not been fired at Kentucky yet. The Wildcats, however, will not make a bowl game if they lose to Louisville on Saturday. Would that prompt Kentucky to move on from Stoops after 13 seasons? If so, then Sumrall – who played linebacker at Kentucky from 2002-04 – would be the first call. Sumrall is 41-11 between stops at Troy and Tulane, and the Wildcats likely would let Sumrall coach through a potential College Football Playoff run with the Green Wave. This feels like the cycle where Sumrall elevates to the Power 4. How much will the potential pull from the alma mater matter?
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementArkansas: Kane Wommack, Alabama defensive coordinator
Wommack, 38, played fullback for two seasons at Arkansas and could be the candidate knowing that Rhett Lashlee likely is staying at SMU and Eric Morris is headed to Oklahoma State. Wommack was 22-16 at South Alabama in three seasons as head coach, and that included a 17-9 record in the final two seasons. He's spent the last two seasons at Alabama as a defensive coordinator and could work those relationships as a head coach for Arkansas. If not Wommack, would Arkansas really entertain bringing in either Ed Orgeron or Jimbo Fisher?
Ole Miss: Glenn Schumann, Georgia defensive coordinator
All of those coaches listed would be candidates for the Ole Miss job, especially if Kiffin leaves amid a College Football Playoff run. The Rebels might have to go with a coach who also will be in the CFP, and Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann is one of those coaches. Schumann, 35, coached at Alabama and Georgia under Saban and Kirby Smart. That's an excellent tree – even if it doesn't always work. In this instance, it could. Otherwise, why not troll everyone and hire Dan Mullen from UNLV? Even Kiffin would appreciate that.
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