Open records obtained by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger have given us a peek under the hood of Lane Kiffin's contract with Ole Miss, and the details are fascinating.
For starters, Kiffin's contract is with the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation and not the University of Mississippi, which allows Ole Miss to circumvent the Mississippi law preventing state institutions from awarding contracts longer than four years. This arrangement allows Ole Miss to have Kiffin under contract through Dec. 31, 2029. Ole Miss has a similar deal with men's basketball coach Chris Beard, and Mississippi State does the same with Jeff Lebby.
"As an institution that competes at the highest level of college athletics, it’s imperative that our coaching contracts are competitive with market standards, and with the current model, we have been able to effectively navigate the contractual process in our industry," an Ole Miss spokesperson told the paper.
Moving further, Ole Miss is far more committed to Kiffin than Kiffin is to Ole Miss.
Should he leave for another job after this season, Kiffin would owe the OMAF a $4 million buyout, which decreases over the life of the deal to an eventual $1.5 million. But if Ole Miss were to fire Kiffin without cause, the OMAF would owe 80 percent of the remainder, which equates to $36.59 million if done after this season -- with no duty to mitigate.
Kiffin's salary sits at $9 million per year over the life of the deal. He'll technically earn $8.85 million in salary in 2024 with a $150,000 retention bonus due on Dec. 31, 2024; the following day, his salary increases to $9 million from 2025 through '29.
Furthermore, Kiffin's contract automatically extends each year Ole Miss wins seven regular season games. The deal actually includes an automatic extension every year, per the Clarion-Ledger, but Kiffin and the OMAF have the mutual option to forgo the extension in the even the Rebels win six or fewer regular season games.
Either way, Ole Miss should be eager to extend Kiffin after this season, considering the Rebels set a program record with 11 regular-season wins in 2023 and enter this season ranked No. 6 in the AP poll, the program's highest starting point since 1970.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.