Lane Kiffin was already heavily disliked in Oxford following his move to LSU. However, the latest wave of criticism stemmed from the controversial Vanity Fair feature and his follow-up remarks, which have angered the Ole Miss fanbase and even drawn backlash from some former players.
How Ole Miss Is Handling the Lane Kiffin Drama
On “That SEC Podcast” Sunday, host Mike Bratton spoke with Outkick senior national college sports reporter Trey Wallace about Ole Miss’ handling of Kiffin’s LSU departure. The discussion also touched on Kiffin’s ongoing public back-and-forth with the program, while Bratton praised Ole Miss, athletic director Keith Carter, and head coach Pete Golding for choosing not to worsen the situation publicly.
“If Ole Miss wanted to there are things that maybe Lane Kiffin had done on the recruiting trail or maybe he was an a** in the facility or something like that or maybe the full story of what went down over the last month in Oxford could somehow sneak its way out into the local media and that is reported,” Wallace said.
“That’s kind of what I meant when I said Ole Miss does have bullets in the chamber if they wanted to. Not some scandalous stuff or something like that.”
The conversation also revisited reporting that Kiffin met with Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin during a bye week before ultimately informing Ole Miss he was leaving for LSU. Wallace also said that Ole Miss leadership told Kiffin before the Egg Bowl that if he accepted another job, he would not be permitted to coach the team during the College Football Playoff.
Ole Miss wanted Kiffin’s total focus on a potential national championship run. However, Kiffin officially accepted the LSU job after defeating Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. He reportedly later asked to remain through the postseason, but Ole Miss stood by its original decision.
Kiffin seemingly remains fixated on Ole Miss, as he felt slighted when the Rebels stood firm on their ultimatum. Now, amid Kiffin’s back-to-back digs at Ole Miss, the school’s leadership has chosen total silence as its best weapon.
“They have done the smart thing by letting him bury himself,” Wallace said. “Because right now you look at Ole Miss, you’re like, ‘Damn, poor Miss. They’re also a good football team.’ With SEC spring meetings coming up, I would imagine Pete is going to talk. I’m sure he’s going to speak.
“Keith Carter is going to be there as well. I’m very interested to see what Keith Carter says. He’s going to try to play it off and be like, ‘We’re doing our thing. Let him do his thing.’ It kind of is what it is.”
Kiffin has reportedly been less active on social media following controversy tied to a Vanity Fair interview, limiting his posts mainly to reposts rather than original comments. As he already apologized for those comments about Ole Miss, he is now expected to shift his whole focus to LSU, which has a 39% chance to make the College Football Playoff, per the PFSN CFB Playoff Meter.
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