It’s real.

There’s a chance that by this time next week, we’re talking about “new Auburn coach Lane Kiffin.” Shoot, there’s a chance that by Friday, we could be talking about “new Auburn coach Lane Kiffin.”

If that happens, some would look at that as a sign that Kiffin is still the same guy who left Tennessee after 1 year to pursue his dream job at USC. Critics would dog Kiffin for not staying at Ole Miss, especially after his Twitter trolling non-denial on Monday night, and some would begin to write his career obituary. Or rather, those critics would just circle back to the one they wrote when Kiffin was left on the tarmac 9 years ago.

Nearly 3 years ago, Kiffin arrived at Ole Miss as the savior with an airport full of welcoming fans who greeted him. Kiffin quipped at his opening press conference that it was “a lot better than another tarmac experience that I had.”

Three years later, we can say Kiffin did about everything that Ole Miss fans could’ve hoped for.

Did he lead a high-powered offense? Yep. Three consecutive top-25 scoring offenses would confirm that. Did he give the program national relevance? Yep. Playing in 24 consecutive games as an AP Top 25 team would confirm that. Did he have historic success? Yep. Leading Ole Miss to its best regular season win total ever and following it up by delivering the program its best 9-game start since 1962 would confirm that.

If Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for Auburn, it would be many things to many people. Devastating. Fascinating. Momentous. But one thing it wouldn’t be? A sign that Kiffin is still the same immature, climber who hung Tennessee out to dry 13 years ago.

And for what it’s worth, I don’t know that Kiffin is going to bolt again. If he wants to stay at Ole Miss, that’d be fascinating in its own right. Could he eventually break through against Alabama and earn a Playoff berth? Maybe, though we’re talking about a program that has never been to an SEC Championship. Kiffin knew that when he signed on. He made a vow to change that.

In fact, go back to his final remarks in his opening statement during his introductory press conference:

“Last thing, a message to recruits around the country. If you want to be featured at the highest level in the best conference in the world, compete for championships and be completely prepared for the NFL with a pro mindset – which is what we do every day with these kids, a pro mindset – so that you can come here, you can win championships in the best conference and you can get drafted the highest by coming here, there’s no reason to go anywhere else but come right here to Ole Miss.”

If Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for Auburn, it won’t be for money. It’ll be because he decided he had a much clearer path to win a national championship at Auburn than at Ole Miss.

But what about the revolving door of coaches on The Plains? I’d answer that with another question — what about the fact that Georgia is the only SEC program that has had fewer head coaches in the 21st century than Auburn? Or what about the fact that Auburn had 3 different coaches compete for national championships in the 21st century?

Compare that to Ole Miss, which had its best regular season win total in school history and then had both coordinators leave for coordinator jobs at other schools. Kiffin himself offered up this self-deprecating remark about watching A&M poach DJ Durkin at the end of 2021:

Kiffin has been the most vocal coach in America as it relates to NIL money and the discrepancy it created within the sport. That wasn’t a thing when Kiffin signed on in December 2019. Well, at least there wasn’t such a public arms raise with collectives.

If Kiffin leaves for Auburn, we can assume he has more confidence in Auburn’s collective efforts compared to Ole Miss. ESPN’s Chris Low said on The Next Round that Auburn’s NIL collective is “10 times” what Ole Miss’ is, which could ultimately push Kiffin to The Plains.

And sure, maybe it helps that Auburn just opened a beautiful new $92 million football facility. Resources aren’t going to be an issue. That’s a nice sell for new athletic director John Cohen.

It’s also quite the sell that Jordan-Hare Stadium was sold out for a game involving a battle of 3-win teams in mid-November. Compare that to what Kiffin said about the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium atmosphere to watch an undefeated Ole Miss team in late-September:

Mind you, that’s 3 years removed from an introductory press conference in which Kiffin cited this as one of his reasons for leaving Florida Atlantic to rejoin the SEC:

“We had a great three years down at Florida Atlantic with two conference championships, two 10 and 11-win seasons, but there was something missing. There was something missing myself walking out into those stadiums and the energy around it, the tailgating around it before, the night before in the hotels. I’m just extremely excited to be back.”

Six of Kiffin’s last 9 years were spent in the SEC, both as Nick Saban’s offensive innovator and as Ole Miss’ post-sanctions savior. He spent nearly a decade getting back to the place he once was at. That is, being one of the most coveted coaches in the sport. He showed he could win with a variety of quarterbacks. He showed he could win with a variety of surroundings. Most importantly, he showed that he could actually do what he failed to do at Tennessee and USC — build programs.

He had a pair of double-digit win seasons at FAU, and in his 3 seasons at Ole Miss, the only coaches who won more SEC games during that stretch were Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.

That’s who Kiffin is chasing. That’s the only thing standing in his way of getting to the top of the college football mountain. If he feels that he doesn’t have the means to get there at Ole Miss, it’ll be a decision that he had years to evaluate.

For all I know, maybe it was the past 12 months that really drove that point home. In addition to having both coordinators bounce, he had 30 new faces on that roster. The “portal king” had massive personnel turnover just to try and stay afloat in the SEC West, which his team mostly did.

Of course, if he leaves Ole Miss for Auburn, Saban and Smart are who Kiffin will be facing. Annually. Auburn is 1 of 2 programs in America (the other is Tennessee) that has that kind of regular-season hurdle. That won’t be lost on Kiffin, either. Nor will the likelihood that any non-Alabama/Georgia SEC team who wins a national title is probably taking down both of those teams to get there anyway (see 2019 LSU).

This could very well come down to what Kiffin wants. Maybe he wants to stay at Ole Miss for a decade and wait his turn to replace Saban at Alabama. Or perhaps after 3 years, he believes he’s ready for a new challenge.

All I know is that a monumental fork in the road is approaching. Neither path will include an immature Kiffin.