What makes a good college football coaching job in 2025?
Facilities? Recruiting footprint? Program prestige? Or none of the above, per Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin has been connected to just about ever major opening (and there are many). During his weekly news conference Monday, he said the priorities around what makes a job good have shifted and revealed his No. 1 factor.
‘People used to say facilities,’ Kiffin said Monday, answering a question from the Clarion Ledger’s Sam Hutchens. ‘Practice field. Those things. I think that’s changed, and it’s going to change. It’s going to be, ‘How much NIL do you have? How is your collective? How is it run? How much do you have?”
The coaching carousel rumors make the this Saturday’s game between Florida and Ole Miss fascinating as Kiffin has been hailed as the perfect hire in Gainesville, built in the Steve Spurrier mold — visor and all.
But how The Grove Collective at Ole Miss stacks up to Florida’s NIL capabilities could determine whether Kiffin stays in Oxford or leaves.
Earlier this season, Kiffin said he wouldn’t chase a job based on his potential salary.
‘I have never made a decision based on money, nor will I,’ Kiffin said on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Oct. 27. ‘… I’ve seen too many examples in life that money does not buy happiness, so I’m never going to make a decision based on money. Nor do I care about it. (Kiffin’s agent) Jimmy Sexton gets really mad when I say that.’
But the funding for his players (players win games) is a different story.
Kiffin said underdog teams can break the mold, but over time, a school with more resources will enjoy an advantage. It’s a simple concept prevalent in other sports.
‘Just look at professional sports,’ Kiffin said. ‘Something like baseball, and the payrolls. Over time, who wins and who doesn’t win?’
Kiffin also said the question to ask in job interviews used to be about how much you could pay assistant coaches. Now that players can be paid, that is where advantages are made.
The grip of old-school recruiting tools such as pedigree and facilities has loosened, but it still factors in.
‘Kids are still recruited,’ Kiffin said. ‘They see sizes of stadiums and traditions and Heismans and national championships and location to talent. All those are in there.’
But as always, money talks.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger, part of USA TODAY Co. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
