Kiffin staying; Freeze a target

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.

With Kiffin off the market, Auburn is now eyeing a former Mississippi coach: Liberty’s Hugh Freeze.

Auburn fired coach Bryan Harsin earlier this month.

A person familiar with the search told the AP that Freeze is a candidate at Auburn.

Freeze did not hide his interest in a possible return to the Southeastern Conference.

“I’ve communicated with (Liberty athletic director) Ian (McCaw) that if someone ever wanted to talk to us that interests us, I would always tell him. Is the job that everyone’s talking about one that I would have an interest in of talking with? Sure.”

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.

Nebraska signs Rhule to 8-year deal:

After six straight losing seasons and more than 20 years removed from its 1990s heyday, Nebraska is turning to Matt Rhule to rebuild its football program.

Rhule signed an eightyear contract and will be introduced Monday at a news conference, the school announced Saturday.

Sun Devils to hire Dillingham:

Arizona State was finalizing a deal Saturday night to make Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham its next head coach, sources told the AP.