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Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin says he has informed school officials he will be staying at Ole Miss, putting an end to speculation that he was the leading candidate to fill the head coaching vacancy at Auburn.
“Same as I said last week: I'm staying here and we have a lot of work left to do,” Kiffin told The Associated Press on Saturday in a voice message.
Kiffin added he has not signed a contract extension with the school.
The 47-year-old Kiffin is 23-12 in three seasons as Rebels coach. No. 20 Mississippi finished its regular season 8-4, losing four of its last five, including Thursday's 24-22 loss to Mississippi State.
Auburn was playing Saturday at No. 8 Alabama in the Iron Bowl, and its coaching search figured to heat up soon after its season concluded.
Auburn fired coach Bryan Harsin earlier this month and has gone 2-1 since under interim coach Carnell Williams, the former star running back for the Tigers.
With Kiffin off the market, Auburn is eyeing a former Mississippi coach to be its next coach.
A person familiar with the search told the AP that Auburn is interested in Liberty coach Hugh Freeze. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Saturday because Auburn was not making details of its search public.
Freeze coached at Ole Miss for five seasons before leaving in disgrace in 2017 after the school discovered he used a university cellphone to call an escort service.
He landed at Liberty and has gone 34-14 in four seasons with the Flames.
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