Lane had zero confidence that his team could win the title

That and obviously Lane has bigger picture visions in his head. He knows the potential here.

Their schedule has not been great. I think it would be highly unlikely for them to even make the championship.

They’re a good team who has managed a meh schedule. I personally don’t think they can beat the teams ahead of them.

Honestly most of the games they have played have been close. Thats good and bad. Losing by less than 10 to Georgia was a good showing. Winning by less than a TD to teams like Wash St, Kentucky and Arkansas is concerning.

Not necessarily.
The timing of the openings/recruiting and the playoffs make it hard to decide this short run VS the better long term situation.

There's obviously going to be more openings next year, but if these ones rank high on his personal list. He may not get another chance at them.

I won't talk shite about Ole Miss here; it just is the timing of it all.

If Kiffin hadn't pissed away his early potential (NFL, big time college programs), Ole Miss never gets him. You dont go from the Raiders to the Rebs.
And if he hadn't had Ole Miss punching above their weight class, the big programs dont come calling. But he did, and it was a matter of time. When Florida fired Napier, you knew the LSU power structure suddenly were faced with a question: stick with Kelly or take your shot at Kiffin. Kelly had better resources here, and was 2-2 against Kiffin, who we widely suspected wanted this job.