Why did Lane Kiffin turn down Auburn? Ole Miss HC's professional career explored

Lane Kiffin is in his fourth season as the Ole Miss Rebels coach. While his record in Oxford has been mixed, he has the Rebels with a 3-0 record and a No. 15 ranking this season. Ole Miss has looked strong, especially in its 37-20 Week 2 victory over then-No. 24 Tulane.

But at some point, it looked as if the coach wasn't going to be with the Rebels for 2023. There was some real chatter that Kiffin might join the Auburn Tigers after the end of the last season.

Earlier in the year, the coach opened up regarding his rationale for turning down Auburn.

Why did Lane Kiffin turn down Auburn?

Lane Kiffin decided to turn down Auburn to avoid the impact that moving to Auburn would have on his family, and because he wishes to continue the reconstruction of the Ole Miss program which was in shambles before he was hired. While Kiffin signed a six-year deal extension with Ole Miss, there were doubts that the $9 million per year agreement was going to be finalized at some point.

Kiffin, who took some heat from the fans for taking too long to reach a decision, explained his situation to ESPN:

"We screw up all the time, but when you think you're doing the right thing and then you're really criticized for it – especially by your own people – I struggled with that because I feel like I went through a decision-making process that you're supposed to go through. I mean, you got to decide. It's your life and your family's life"

Lane Kiffin's coaching career

Lane Kiffin started his coaching journey as an assistant at his alma mater, Fresno State, in the 1990s. From there, he went on to be a graduate assistant at Colorado State.

He made the jump to the NFL in 2000, as quality control coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. From there, he went to USC, where he had half a decade working several offensive coaching positions.

In 2007, he was given the shot as an NFL head coach by the Oakland Raiders, with a disappointing 5-15 over two seasons. He was fired midway through the 2008 season. He was the youngest head coach in the history of the organization.

From there, he went to his first head coaching role in college football. He was named the Tennessee coach for the 2009 season and led them to a 7-6 record. He decided to leave after just one year to rejoin the Trojans, this time as their head coach.

He spent three seasons with USC, having a record of 28-15. He brought no bowl victories for the Trojans and was fired after a humiliating 62-41 loss to Arizona State. He was reportedly told he was fired at the airport as the team headed back to Los Angeles, wasn't allowed to board the bus with the team and was left stranded at the airport.

He took time off from being a head coach for a while, working under Nick Saban at Alabama as its offensive coordinator. He was there from 2014 until 2016, before taking a lower-profile head coaching job at Florida Atlantic.

In three seasons at Florida Atlantic, he won two Conference USA titles and two Boca Raton Bowl victories. With them, he had a 26-13 record.