Lane Kiffin 'not in the mix for' Oregon Ducks, reports say

John Canzano of the Oregonian has reported that Ole Miss Rebels head football coach Lane Kiffin was "not in the mix" for Oregon Ducks' head-coaching vacancy.

Oregon was looking for the replacement of Mario Cristobal, who left the school to take over as the Miami Hurricanes head coach, and it was rumored that the Ducks fancied Kiffin to fill the vacancy.

Last week, however, the Rebels signed Kiffin to contract extension, which according to Chris Low and Harry Lyles Jr. of ESPN, the deal would pay the head coach around $7.5 million per year.

"We are committed to winning championships at Ole Miss, and Coach Kiffin is the person to lead us to those heights," Ole Miss vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics Keith Carter said in a statement following the signing. "With his winning edge, offensive vision, and recruiting prowess, he has quickly cemented our team among the best in the nation, and this is just the start.

"With major facility projects on the horizon, we are investing in this program like never before and look forward to building on the foundation that Coach Kiffin has established."

Pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon is currently taking up the helm as the Ducks' interim head coach.

Kiffin's history and profile

The 46-year-old Kiffin led the Rebels to a 10-2 mark in 2021. This was the school's first 10-win regular season in the program's history. He also led Ole Miss to a 15-7 record across two seasons. Under him, the Rebels will play a New Year's Six bowl game this season.

Kiffin has held a number of positions throughout his career, including several assistant jobs early on. He was a Jacksonville Jaguars quality control assistant in 2000 and an assistant under Pete Carroll at USC from 2001 through 2006, he also became an offensive coordinator for his final season there.

He was hired by the Oakland Raiders as head coach in 2007, where he led the team only to a 5-15 mark. He was fired after four games into his second season.

After that, he went to Tennessee to take the role as head coach for the Volunteers in 2009, leading the team to a 7-6 record before being hired as USC's head coach in 2010. The trojan then fired him midway through the 2013 campaign after only managing to reach a 28-15 record in four seasons and one 10-win season.

The cycle continued to repeat for him, where he was given high-profile jobs but then failed to make the most out of it. He fixed his reputation under Nick Saban as the offensive coordinator at Alabama before taking over the helm at the Florida Atlantic in 2017. He led the Owls to two bowl game appearances and a 27-13 record.

The question "who will replace Cristobal at Oregon" has yet to be answered as there is currently no certain name that seems to be suitable for the position. The names that the public is currently nominating include, Dave Aranda of Baylor, Andy Avalos of Noise State, Matt Campbell of Iowa State, Tony Elliott of Clemson, Bryan Harsin of Auburn, Chip Kelly of UCLA, Dan Lanning of Georgia, Kalani Sitake of BYU, and Justin Wilcox of California.