When Auburn fired Bryan Harsin on Halloween, there was one name publicly associated with the Tigers’ coaching vacancy more than any other over the ensuing four week: Lane Kiffin.

The Ole Miss coach was at the forefront of speculation when it came to the Auburn job, and he addressed the opening multiple times during the Tigers’ coaching search — from being asked about the job two days after Harsin’s firing, to downplaying his viability as a candidate after Ole Miss’ loss to Arkansas in November, to even jokingly making reference to Tommy Tuberville’s infamous “pine box” comments and Nick Saban’s remarks about not becoming the next coach at Alabama while with the Dolphins during Egg Bowl week.

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All that speculation came to a head the week of Thanksgiving, when a Mississippi-based television reporter reported that Kiffin planned to leave Ole Miss for Auburn the day after the Egg Bowl. It was a noisy monthlong saga in Oxford, Miss., that ultimately ended in Kiffin signing an extension with Ole Miss and Auburn landing on Hugh Freeze as its head coach.

The perpetual speculation and buzz surrounding Kiffin’s candidacy hit such a fever pitch that it became difficult for Rebels players to tune out late in the season.

“It was definitely tough, because we didn’t really know until he addressed it himself,” former Ole Miss offensive lineman Nick Broeker said last week at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “I think that just kind of happens when you have a guy like Lane Kiffin. He’s such a big name and such a good college football coach that whenever there’s a big job open, he’s going to be a topic of discussion.”

Ole Miss tried to ignore the speculation regarding its head coach, but after the WCBI report that Kiffin was heading to Auburn after Ole Miss’ regular-season finale against rival Mississippi State, the head coach held a team meeting to address it head-on the Monday before that game.

“At first, he didn’t acknowledge it; it wasn’t something that was getting to everybody,” former Ole Miss running back Zach Evans said. “Then it got to a point where he came in and talked to us. He was like, ‘Hey, I’m not worried about leaving. I haven’t told nobody anything. I’m not taking jobs.’ He was like, ‘Let’s get this game, and let’s compete.’”

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According to Broeker, Kiffin relayed a similar message in that team meeting: He planned to stay at Ole Miss. He was happy there, and importantly, so was his family. Broeker said Kiffin’s family dynamic “absolutely” played a role in his desire to stay at Ole Miss, and the coach said as much himself. Kiffin’s oldest daughter, Landry, is an incoming freshman at Ole Miss, while his youngest daughter Presley is in high school in Oxford, and his son Knox seems to be enjoying life in the Magnolia State; he notably went viral during the Egg Bowl when he led a sideline celebration, with players jumping up and down as they hoisted him on their shoulders and he released a fire extinguisher following a touchdown by former Auburn transfer J.J. Pegues.

“I think he’s in it for the long haul,” Broeker said.

Even with Kiffin addressing the reports of flirtations with Auburn brass about the job on the Plains, the persistent speculation took an apparent toll on his team. Following an 8-1 start to the year that had the Rebels ranked 11th in the College Football Playoff top-25, Ole Miss lost each of its final three regular-season games — all of which came after Kiffin’s name became associated with the Auburn opening.

“The whole team felt like it was just mind-clutter,” Evans said. “We started off the season 8-1. I mean, everybody wanted something to say. A lot of people didn’t like the success we were having, so we just got to stay together as a team and focus on the main thing, and that was winning.”

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The Rebels were unable to do that, though, as they ended the season on a four-game losing streak. They came up short against Alabama on fourth down inside the final minute, got throttled by Arkansas for three quarters the following week, let a halftime lead slip away in the Egg Bowl and then lost the Texas Bowl to Texas Tech, 42-25, after Kiffin agreed to his extension at the end of the regular season. Kiffin’s new deal will keep him at Ole Miss through at least the 2026 season, with an average salary approaching $9 million annually, though Sports Illustrated reported that the deal will be for at least eight years and run through an arm of the Rebels’ athletics foundation as a means of circumventing a state law that prohibits contracts for state employees to extend beyond four years.

“He’s built a really great thing at Ole Miss,” Broeker said. “So, I’m excited to see where he takes them in the future.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.