FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Did you catch it?
At the end of the Lane Kiffin press conference following the 42-27 loss to Arkansas. Did you catch it?
Following an absolute drubbing at the hands of Sam Pittman’s Arkansas Razorbacks, where the Hogs went up 42-6 on a frosty night before switching the game plan to get out of the cold as soon as possible mode, Kiffin told you all you need to know about his future in Oxford at the 7:30 mark.
The last two questions center around Kiffin’s plans for his career after the Egg Bowl. The response to whether Ole Miss made him a generous offer to stick around got a classic non-denial denial response.
Kiffin whipped out all the greatest hits.
“I don’t talk about that kind of stuff.”
“I’m very happy here.”
“Very appreciative of leadership here.”
For those who don’t spend a lot of time sifting through this sort of talk, let’s translate the silent words said immediately after those statements.
“I don’t talk about that kind of stuff. [My wife and agent do, so if I get home and moving boxes are in the floor, I know I’m going elsewhere.]”
“I’m very happy here. [But I will be even happier somewhere else should I leave because I will be sleeping on an even bigger mountain of cash, presumably with better fan support.]”
“Very appreciative of leadership here. [For either agreeing with my agent to give me an absurd amount of money or for giving me the opportunity to earn the chance for someone else to give me an absurd amount of money.]”
However, it was the answer to the last question at the 7:39 mark that said it all. This is where Kiffin either is doing the world’s greatest troll job, or he’s letting a couple of key guys he’s developed a relationship with in the Mississippi media know this is a done deal.
The reporter indicates there are reports out there that Kiffin is Auburn’s No. 1 target and asks what the future holds for him.
Kiffin begins by repeating non-denial denials.
“I love being here.”
“I don’t want to look ahead to next year.”
But then he closes his press conference at the 7:53 mark by giving up on the usual verbal dancing coaches in his position typically cling to like a life preserver in the open seas.
“Maybe if they watched the first half I wouldn’t be number one anymore.”
In that statement, Kiffin admits to being Auburn’s No. 1 target before he casts a sly, knowing grin to the reporter and then flashes the same grin at another reporter on the other side of the room before abruptly closing the press conference.
The entire first half and few minutes of the second half against Arkansas, Ole Miss looked like a team coached by a man planning his recruiting chart for Auburn and spending time figuring out a new coaching staff rather than watching the blueprint posted by Liberty and LSU on how to befuddle the Arkansas offensive line and shut down Raheim “Rocket” Sanders.
Sure, it’s easy to say Ole Miss put up a ton of numbers while keeping the score respectable, so Kiffin must have been dialed in. However, most of those numbers were generated when Pittman called off the dogs with a 36-point lead.
Looking at the schedule, Kiffin can meet his contractual duties by showing up for the Egg Bowl Thursday, meet the movers at his new home in Auburn on Friday, use the afternoon to reroute Amazon packages, spend a warm evening by the fire that night while burning Ole Miss gear he and his family no longer need, and then catch the Iron Bowl on Saturday from a no-pressure luxury seat while evaluating who he’d like to keep around.
But then again, Kiffin’s been known to be a brilliant internet troll.
Of course, that means he got out-coached by Pittman so bad that Oxford may be the only home he ever knows again.
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