Lane Kiffin was refusing to talk about Ole Miss right up until the last moment before his hiring was made official.
The Florida Atlantic coach led his team to a blowout 49-6 win in the Conference USA title game on Saturday. During the postgame celebration, Kiffin was asked if he’d just coached his final games with the Owls. Kiffin refused to answer the question, shifting the attention back to the school and players.
Lane Kiffin laughed and deflected when he got asked about taking the Ole Miss job. pic.twitter.com/7inpbHfdd9
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) December 7, 2019
Less than a half hour after that, Ole Miss officially confirmed that Kiffin had been hired as the new coach — with a rather dramatic video.
OFFICIAL | @Lane_Kiffin named head football coach at Ole Miss
https://t.co/ovLKjexMaq
https://t.co/6yjQRa0OG3 pic.twitter.com/gWo4oipxj7— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) December 7, 2019
Kiffin obviously knew the answer — the deal was essentially done as of Friday, and Ole Miss was merely waiting for Kiffin to coach in the C-USA title game to announce it. It’s an awkward and uncomfortable spot to be in, and he obviously wasn’t going to go in depth on the situation on a stage with his celebrating players. It’s still a rather strange note for Kiffin’s FAU career to end on, though.
