Kiffin shoots down Arkansas rumors

Lane Kiffin hasn’t even finished his first season as the Raiders head coach and the hot talk is that he might be gone next year. One place the rumor mill has him going is Arkansas, but Kiffin shot that theory down Wednesday.

“That’s news to me,” Kiffin said following Oakland’s practice, adding that neither he nor his agent have been contacted by anybody from Arkansas. “No. You can call and ask (my agent).”

Arkansas media outlets and ESPN.com both reported Kiffin as a potential candidate for the Arkansas job, though no source was identified.

That’s the bad thing about rumors, particularly in this day and age of the internet. A comment by someone can be taken as gospel and quickly becomes the hot topic of the day.

Check out both the reports. Not once is a single source identified, and instead phrases like “could be a good fit for the Razorbacks” is used. Could? That’s like saying it could rain tomorrow. Then it again, it could be sunny.

The point is, don’t believe anything until it happens or until someone goes on record confirming it. A few years back when Jon Gruden was still with the Raiders, he was rumored as a candidate for the coaching vacancy at Notre Dame. Some wrote it as a done deal, even though Gruden repeatedly denied it. He eventually left Oakland but not for the job with the Fighting Irish.

Kiffin, who signed a three-year contract with the Raiders, hasn’t gone on record saying he will definitely remain in Oakland but he’s also not said anything to the contrary. Until he does, it’s just a bunch of gossip.