OXFORD — Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin dominated headlines last November, linked constantly to the vacant coaching job at Auburn, which fired Bryan Harsin midseason and eventually hired former Rebels coach Hugh Freeze.

Granting an interview to ESPN's Alex Scarborough, Kiffin explained that 10 years ago he might have made a different decision, perhaps looking at Auburn's recent history that includes 23 weeks ranked inside the AP Poll's top five since the 2010 season and viewing it as a better platform for success than what Ole Miss can offer, due to its recruiting potential.

But the modern college football landscape is different. The one-time transfer rule has, in his belief, removed some of the limits of what can be achieved at Ole Miss.

"That helps your ability outside of those programs that you would put in that group that signs top-five classes every year," he said.

"Outside of them, this helps because this allows you to have a good year, lose players (to the NFL) and not go like whoosh, because you can plug in players (from the portal)."

Scarborough reported that, while Kiffin considered Auburn's propensity for firing coaches compared to the relative stability Ole Miss offers, that didn't necessarily scare him off the job. His family did play a role, though. Kiffin's daughter is a senior in high school and plans to attend Ole Miss.

Kiffin has received major criticism for his handling of the situation, largely because the Rebels lost their final four games of the season – a streak that coincided with the opening of the Auburn gig.

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But Kiffin, while understanding and accepting that perspective, believes Ole Miss benefitted from his Auburn flirtation to a degree. Its collective received a considerable influx of contributions, and announced that it had surpassed $10 million in fundraising in late November.

"You can look at it and say, 'All right, there's something we wish wouldn't have happened and the whole Auburn thing was a distraction,'" Kiffin said. "But you can also look at it and say, 'If that didn't happen, what would the collective be? 'And not just in what we signed in the last portal and recruiting class, but the future. Or, more importantly, keeping our own players."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lane Kiffin explains staying with Ole Miss football over Auburn