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ESPN’s Matt Barrie reveals what Lane Kiffin told him about Auburn job speculation
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Lane Kiffin’s name has been connected to the vacant head coaching position at Auburn virtually since it opened. Bringing the Ole Miss head coach to the Plains would certainly be a splashy move for a program looking to put itself back in the national conversation.
Kiffin reportedly told his team on Wednesday evening that he was set to remain in Oxford “unless something significantly changes”. It’s obviously not the 1st time Kiffin has been in the midst of rumors of that type, and it sounds as if the matter can finally be put to bed.
All this came hours before the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Matt Barrie is on the call for ESPN at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium with Louis Riddick and Harry Lyles Jr. and revealed what Kiffin told them during Wednesday’s production meeting.
“If you’ve been around social media, you’ve been around this part of the country, you know the story with Ole Miss by now. Their head coach Lane Kiffin and his connection to the Auburn job,” said Barrie. “We are not here to speculate tonight, we are not here to validate Internet reports. All we can do is tell you is what Lane told us in our meeting yesterday. He looked us in the eye and said there has been no job taken and there has been no discussions about taking another job.”
Along with Kiffin, Liberty’s Hugh Freeze and former Temple, Baylor, and Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule are reportedly on Auburn’s shortlist. However, if Cadillac Williams can lead the Tigers to a win in the Iron Bowl against Alabama on Saturday, he could see his name rise to the top.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.