Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin agree to contract extension

PRESS RELEASE (Ole Miss Athletics)-In the midst of another record-breaking football season, Ole Miss will continue the historic momentum that has been established under Lane Kiffin’s leadership, as the two parties have agreed on a contract extension, it was announced Tuesday by Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter.

In his four years at the helm, Kiffin has guided Ole Miss to its first two 10-win regular seasons, four consecutive bowl berths and two New Year’s Six bowl appearances in the past three years. The Rebels are 21-2 over their last 23 games in Oxford, including perfect home records in both 2021 and 2023.

“Our football program is experiencing unprecedented success under Coach Kiffin, and we could not be more excited about what the future holds under his leadership,” Carter said. “In just four years, he has established our team as a sustained winner that is on a trajectory to championship status. With our continued investment in the program and the tremendous support of the Grove Collective, the Ole Miss family is committed to providing Coach Kiffin the resources needed to compete at an elite level.”

“We’re doing things here that have never been done before, and with the commitment that our leadership and supporters are making, we have the opportunity to build on the foundation that has been established over the last four years,” Kiffin said. “I’m grateful to Chancellor Boyce and Keith for their support, and we look forward to continuing on our path to becoming a championship program.”

This year, Kiffin has guided the 11th-ranked Rebels to a 10-2 regular season and a New Year’s Six bid to play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Penn State on Dec. 30. Kiffin now stands alongside legendary Ole Miss coach John Vaught as the only head coaches in program history to chart multiple 10-win seasons.

Offensively, the 2023 Rebels put together another electric resume under Kiffin, whose Ole Miss teams since 2020 rank second overall among all FBS schools in total offense at 497.4 yards per game. This year, Ole Miss ranks within the top-15 of the FBS in passing efficiency (11th, 162.2), yards per completion (12th, 14.4) and total offense (15th, 455.4 YPG), while ranking fourth in the SEC and 19th nationally at 34.8 points per game. Ole Miss has done so with a balanced attack, ranking fourth in the conference in both passing (276.6 YPG) and rushing (178.8 YPG).

The Rebels have also taken extraordinarily good care of the football this year, leading the SEC in both turnover margin (+9) and fewest turnovers (7), the latter of which ranks third among all FBS schools. Impressively, Ole Miss has done all this with one of the fastest offenses in the nation, ranking second in the SEC and eighth in the FBS at 23.3 seconds per play this season.

The Ole Miss defense, meanwhile, has wreaked havoc both in the backfield and in the passing game all season long, ranking as one of the nation’s best in both sacks (2.8/game; No. 5 SEC, No. 16 FBS) and in interceptions (12; No. 1 SEC, No. 22 FBS).

Last season, Kiffin’s Rebels rode one of the nation’s most explosive rushing attacks to an 8-5 record and a bid to play in the Texas Bowl. Ole Miss was No. 3 nationally in rushing offense (256.6) and No. 8 in total offense (496.4), helped greatly by talented true freshman running back Quinshon Judkins.  Judkins set the Ole Miss single-season record in both rushing yards (1,567) and rushing touchdowns (16).

In 2021, Kiffin guided the Rebels to a 10-3 record and an appearance in the AllState Sugar Bowl. The team was a perfect 7-0 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, which was part of a 14-game home win streak under Kiffin. The Rebels finished the season ranked No. 11 in both the AP and AFCA Coaches Poll—the program’s highest final ranking since 2016.

In his first year at Ole Miss in 2020, Kiffin quickly turned the Rebels into an offensive powerhouse. Averaging a school record 555.5 yards of offense per game, the team finished with a 5-5 record in the COVID-shortened campaign, concluding with a victory over No. 7 Indiana in the Outback Bowl.