“Everybody would just remember me as the guy who took all this money and went to Miami or Tennessee for his last year. But I was a captain. I put my hand and footprints in the cement at Denny Chimes. I would have lost everything that I built at Alabama.” — Ty Simpson

Pretty obvious today during the postgame press conference how much Kiffin misses Monte, who was the kind of person that created a sense of warmness in every setting and treated everybody like they were somebody.

Defensive coordinator Pete Golding is expected to remain at Ole Miss and will coach the Rebels in the playoff. Golding could also be a candidate to replace Kiffin as Ole Miss’ head coach.

Kiffin’s $13 million annual salary at LSU will put him on par with Kirby Smart as the highest-paid coach in college football. LSU would owe him 80 percent of remaining contract if fired without cause. Confirming ⁦@walexander⁩’s reporting. t.co/MOUPj70snF

Clark Lea told me that he and the team were willing to do “anything” to further prove they belonged in the playoff. AD Candice Storey Lee had been working the channels in hopes of setting up a game before the final rankings are unveiled Sunday.

Was already going to be a drama-filled day in Oxford tomorrow as we await Lane Kiffin’s decision. But with Texas upsetting Texas A&M, Ole Miss is an Alabama loss away to Auburn from playing Georgia in the SEC championship game. Ole Miss wanted an answer early, but Bama-Auburn game is at night.

Coaching at Alabama ain't for everybody, and Kalen DeBoer has felt the wrath at times. Who wouldn't coming in after Nick Saban? But a few numbers to consider on the heels of tonight's blowout of LSU on the road: In his career, DeBoer is 22-8 vs. AP ranked teams, 8-4 vs. top-10 teams, 8-2 vs. Kiffin, Sark, Smart and Lanning, 9-0 off a bye week, 11-3 vs. ranked teams on the road and 6-2 vs. ranked teams in true road games at Bama.

Stoops was never going to walk away on his own, but when Kentucky approached him about a separation, he said he would be willing to negotiate an agreement allowing UK to spread out payments over a number of years instead of paying $38 million buyout within 60 days of his firing.

It’s Kiffin’s offense, but Weis is the primary play-caller. Rebels are the only team to rank in the top 15 nationally in total offense among Power 4 teams each of the last three years and one of three teams (along with Notre Dame and Oregon) to rank in top 20 in scoring.

Lot of irony here. Harris ripped Kiffin after the Sugar Bowl last year and told On3 among other things that Ole Miss saw “how a real head coach is supposed to be” after Pete Golding took over. Harris said Kiffin’s departure felt like a “slap in the face” and was especially upset upon hearing Kiffin was interested in joining the ESPN broadcast during the game. Harris fumed, “That’s what Kiffin tried to do. He tried to be a damn announcer … trying to be a troll. We are going to troll him. We got something for him. He was just trying to steal our shine. That’s all he tried to do. That’s all he’s been trying to do.”

Can confirm @ZachAbolverdi’s reporting. It’s down to Kiffin either staying at Ole Miss or going to LSU.

“We ain’t playing scared. We ain’t coaching scared.”

Don’t want to paint either league with a broad brush, which happens a ton on both sides of this debate, but Oklahoma had to beat Tennessee and Alabama on the road and Missouri and LSU at home last November to get into the playoff. Sooners also played Michigan at home in Week 2.

Saban’s wit is a lot sharper than people will ever know.

Lane Kiffin on whether he expects to make a decision tomorrow on his future at Ole Miss: “I feel like I gotta.”

Ole Miss OL paints a different picture of Kiffin’s exit.

One of the greatest quotes I got from Nick in all my time covering him: “How the hell I ever ended up at a science camp I'll never know, but I'm glad I went.”