Do Alabama football fans care if Lane Kiffin goes to Auburn?

Alabama football fans are interested in what Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss and Auburn are going to do. There seems to be a prevalent belief that on a long-term basis Lane can make Auburn better than he can ever make Ole Miss. If that is true, having Lane in Oxford rather than Auburn works better for the Alabama football program.

Of course, Alabama fans, even ones with the deepest pockets, have no control over what Lane will do. Lane might and it is a stretch, but Lane might seek Nick Saban’s advice. None of us can know what Saban would tell him.

As we wrote recently, based on a Twitter poll Bama Hammer conducted, there is considerable support for Lane Kiffin to eventually succeed Nick Saban. Some fans have suggested Kiffin should immediately be offered in the range of $8M a year to become the Crimson Tide’s Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach – AND, Head Coach-in-waiting. There are a bunch of reasons why such a move will not and should not happen. The biggest of which is Nick Saban will likely be coaching in Tuscaloosa for another five to eight seasons, and maybe longer.

Also, Lane Kiffin would never again suffer through seasons of Nick Saban, ass-kickings.

Back to reality. Current indications are Kiffin is Auburn’s No. 1 choice. The price most often rumored is in the range of a $77M-$80M deal. Other rumors claim Auburn will go to $100M if it takes it. The Auburn Athletic Department is not flush with cash, but funding a Kiffin contract should not be a problem, using outside money.

It is believed Ole Miss could and would match the lower amount, but Ole Miss probably cannot win a bidding war.

A key issue not being mentioned less is how closely can Ole Miss compete with Auburn in NIL funds. It is believed annual NIL funding resources will give Auburn a big advantage.

As Alabama football fans know, Jimmy Sexton is a dealmaker

Then there is the control issue. Can Jimmy Sexton bullet-proof Kiffin from Auburn boosters who always want to call many shots? Like Saban in Tuscaloosa, Kiffin has full control in Oxford. A dollar value can be estimated for such control, thereby reducing Auburn’s apparent NIL advantage.

There is another sticky point. Support is rapidly growing for Auburn to hire Cadillac Williams. As Fly War Eagle reported, current and former Auburn players are lobbying for Cadillac. Assuming Auburn does not opt for its former star, but wants him to have a key, locked-in role on the next staff, how would Kiffin respond? Lane may not be willing to have a single condition placed on how he would build and run the Auburn program.

There is one more thing. Many Alabama fans believe Kiffin strongly wants to succeed Nick Saban. Who knows if that would ever happen, but if Lane takes the Auburn job, it will never happen.

What will happen with Kiffin is not known, but it can be expected it will be decided soon. All new coaches want a chance to make a roster impact in the December Early Signing Period.