Penn State lost out on one potential coaching candidate Thursday, and another piece of the search could be going away soon.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter told The Ole Miss Spirit that he’d like to extend Lane Kiffin.
“I’d love to get something done like Indiana did with Curt Cignetti before the silly season starts,” Carter said. “We’ll see.”
What Carter is referring to, of course, is Indiana making Cignetti one of college football’s richest coaches, singing him to an eight-year extension worth $11.6 million a year.
Cross Him Off: Indiana Extends Curt Cignetti Amid Penn State Coaching Search
Kiffin has every reason to use the Penn State opening to leverage a new deal. Kiffin has done a good job overall in Oxford, where he’s 50-18 and coming off back-to-back double-digit win seasons.
This season, in particular, has been a big one for Ole Miss.
The Rebels are 6-0 and ranked No. 5. If Ole Miss can somehow sweep its next two games: at No. 9 Georgia and at No. 14 Oklahoma— it will have a great shot at finishing the regular season 12-0.
An unbeaten season is a goal Penn State and its fans thought their team could attain this season.
But a dream turned into a nightmare seemingly overnight, with Penn State losing three straight games— the latter two being embarrassments at the hands of UCLA and Northwestern— and fired coach James Franklin as a result.
Now the question becomes who Penn State gets to replace Franklin.
NSN was amongst the outlets that listed Kiffin as an option, but an extension would take that off the table.
For many, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule remains the man to beat, due in part to his ties with AD Pat Kraft and the fact that he grew up in State College and played at Penn State.
But with Nebraska 5-1 and in the top 25, an extension for Rhule might not be too far away, either.
