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Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss head coach

There’s little doubting the ability that the former USC and Tennessee Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin has to bring about most college football programs to new heights. He’s taken both the Ole Miss Rebels and Florida Atlantic Owls to new heights in his last two head coaching gigs.

Kiffin currently has Ole Miss in a position to get a good slot in a New Year’s Six Bowl game as a team ranked firmly in the top 10 at this point of the season.

Ole Miss went from 5-5 during the COVID-19 pandemic year in Kiffin’s first season at the helm to 10-2 already this season. Following their big win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs and head coach Mike Leach in the Egg Bowl this week, Ole Miss is looking like one of the best teams in the SEC, outside of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs at least.

The fact that Kiffin was able to get the Rebels in this position this fast is a testament to his growth as a head coach. If Oklahoma wanted to bring in another bright offensive mind as their next head coaching hire, Kiffin should be a real consideration. But the fact that he didn’t find any sort of sustained success at other stops at blue bloods as the USC and Tennessee head coach could make the Oklahoma administration shy away from him a bit.

Oklahoma fans should have confidence in the offensive scheming and recruiting abilities of Kiffin. The problem would be how Kiffin is able to build up this program in other phases. If there is a world where Oklahoma could hire Kiffin, while keeping Grinch on staff as the defensive coordinator, that could be a pretty good situation for the program moving forward.