Lane Kiffin’s Market Value Soars as College Coaching Carousel Spins
The college football coaching landscape is experiencing a significant shake-up, with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin at the center of attention. Reports suggest LSU is preparing to offer Kiffin an enormous contract comparable to Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s deal, potentially creating a domino effect across multiple programs. If Kiffin accepts LSU’s reported offer, both Ole Miss and Florida would find themselves scrambling for alternatives. This high-profile movement comes amid other notable vacancies at prestigious programs including Auburn, Arkansas, and Penn State, all of which are evaluating candidates from various tiers of the coaching market.
Among the “Tier 2” candidates receiving consideration from these major programs are three rising stars from the American Athletic Conference: North Texas’ Eric Morris, Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, and South Florida’s Alex Golseh. While each brings impressive credentials, Morris has emerged as perhaps the most intriguing option due to a unique circumstance that could provide additional value to his hiring school. According to ESPN’s Eli Lederman, Morris might bring along his talented quarterback Chandler Mestemaker as a package deal, similar to when Cam Ward followed Morris from Incarnate Word to Washington State in 2022. Lederman notes that Morris “is among the leading candidates for multiple Power 4 openings,” and that Mestemaker “will instantly become one of the cycle’s most attractive transfer quarterbacks” should he enter the portal after this season.
Morris has established himself as one of college football’s rising coaching stars at just 40 years old, guiding North Texas to an impressive 9-1 record this season. With favorable matchups against Rice and Temple remaining on their schedule, the Mean Green are well-positioned to compete for the AAC championship. This remarkable turnaround has placed Morris firmly on the radar of programs seeking new leadership. His success extends beyond just wins and losses, as his reputation for quarterback development has become his signature strength in the coaching world.
The North Texas coach’s résumé in quarterback development is particularly impressive, having worked with elite talents including NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, as well as collegiate standouts Cam Ward and John Mateer. Morris has continued this pattern with Mestemaker, transforming the 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman into one of the nation’s premier passers. Mestemaker’s statistics tell the story: he currently ranks fifth nationally in passing yards with 3,000, seventh in touchdowns with 23, and fifteenth in completion percentage at 69.3% among qualified quarterbacks. These numbers reflect Morris’s offensive philosophy and ability to maximize quarterback talent regardless of program resources.
For programs like Arkansas, Auburn, Stanford, and UCLA that are evaluating their coaching options, Morris represents an intriguing proposition. Beyond his proven ability to build winning programs, the potential to acquire both an innovative head coach and a ready-made star quarterback in one move could accelerate a rebuilding process. This package deal approach has precedent in college football, with the Ward-Morris partnership at Washington State demonstrating how such arrangements can benefit both parties while providing immediate offensive production for the hiring school.
As the coaching carousel continues to spin, Morris’s situation highlights the evolving nature of college football hiring processes in the transfer portal era. Programs are increasingly looking beyond just coaching credentials to consider the entire ecosystem a coach might bring—including key players, staff members, and recruiting connections. With LSU potentially making a market-setting move for Kiffin, schools further down the pecking order must find creative approaches to compete. For a coach like Morris, whose offensive system depends heavily on quarterback play, the ability to bring along a talented signal-caller represents a significant competitive advantage in what has become an increasingly complex and fast-moving hiring market across college football.
