On3’s Andy Staples sees Ole Miss-LSU as a must-win for Brian Kelly to remain off the coaching hot seat. He doesn’t see the same situation for Lane Kiffin if his Rebels lose on the road, though; projecting more criticisms that Lane can’t win big games but not projecting uneasiness with Kiffin in charge in Oxford.
“For Kiffin, a loss wouldn’t make anyone question whether he should be the Ole Miss coach,” Staples prefaced before saying, “But this team is supposed to take the next step and make the 12-team CFP. If it loses Saturday, the chances of that happening dwindle to near zero. So Kiffin would get saddled with more ‘can’t win the big game’ criticism.
“For Kelly, a loss on Saturday might produce some questions about whether he can get LSU where it expects to go. Unlike Ole Miss, just making the CFP isn’t enough. LSU is supposed to win national titles. Kelly’s three immediate predecessors did that. So if in year three he can’t even get LSU into a 12-team playoff, that will generate some angst.”
Brian Kelly, LSU can push Lane Kiffin closer to Florida
Kelly’s lone loss this season was a neutral-site loss in Las Vegas that may as well have been a USC home game considering Sin City’s proximity to Los Angeles. Not because Tiger fans didn’t show, since they did show up in droves. But traveling across the country when the opposing team can comfortably drive played a role.
Kiffin’s Rebels lost at home to Kentucky. That’s the kind of loss only a distracted program has. The incessant Kiffin-to-Florida rumors are likely tearing the Rebels locker room apart.
It’s sad, really. Ole Miss has not been this consistently good since John Vaught was in charge during the late 1950s and early 1960s. But that’s college football in a nutshell. When more accomplished programs with more money and resources to offer come calling, though, the best coaches tend to answer.
If Kelly and LSU knock off Kiffin’s Rebels, get ready for the Gators rumor to take center stage in the college football world.
