The drama surrounding Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is bubbling over and won’t be contained until we finally know where his future truly lies. And Fox lead college football analyst Joel Klatt is joining the chorus of voices that are hoping that he stays in Oxford. Kiffin is being wooed by more traditional SEC powerhouses in LSU and Florida. Although those two programs have struggled in recent years, they have plenty of history of success and plenty of dollars to offer when it comes to coaches and players. Although Lane Kiffin has Ole Miss in the Top 10 and almost a lock for the College Football Playoff no matter what happens in the Egg Bowl rivalry game against Mississippi State, there exists the real possibility that he will hit the eject button on the season to get started on next year’s recruiting and transfer portal at a new school. Kiffin stonewalled questions about his future on Monday. But on his podcast, Joel Klatt had some questions of his own. Last week, the Fox analyst suggested Ole Miss give their head coach an ultimatum on deciding his future. Now that we know it will be revealed after the Egg Bowl, the signs are pointing towards the exit door. With that in mind, Klatt said that if Kiffin did leave Ole Miss in the middle of a playoff run for greener pastures elsewhere, it would be a dent in his credibility that would follow him around for the rest of his career. “How does Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss in the middle of a playoff run and have any credibility at his next place,” Klatt asked. “I don’t think that he would. Your credibility is your currency as a coach.” “If you say yes to everything, how can you be committed to anything? I don’t think he has to go anywhere to find success. This is not like it used to be. You see, it used to be like, LSU would come open and you’re like, ‘I got to go there if I want to go there to win at the top end.’ But guess what? The proof that you don’t have to do that is Lane at Ole Miss,” Klatt exclaimed. Klatt also looked at the bigger picture of what it would mean for the sport if Kiffin left Ole Miss on the way to the CFP and chose to go recruiting instead at a rival institution. It would be impossible to think about in almost any other sport on the planet. It would be a devastating blow to the Ole Miss team, but also send another message that the players are just pawns for coaches and administrators to pursue their own interests and paydays. “I am concerned for what that would mean for college football. Because this would be like a car accident of epic proportions,” Klatt said. “If he were to leave and then not coach the CFP, he is destroying the Ole Miss football team. Those kids committed to him as much as they did committed to Ole Miss. Then they committed to each other to achieve something great. They will not excel in the playoffs without him as their playcaller. And if he leaves them, it’s not just the calendar’s fault because he has agency. He has agency. And he doesn’t have to leave.”.
https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/joel-klatt-says-lane-kiffin-would-lose-credibility-leaving-ole-miss.html