No going back for kiffin as he burns his Mississippi bridges
by GEORGE SOMERVILLE
SEC CORRESPONDENT
Lane Kiffin returns to his previous school, Ole Miss, on September 20th, this time as the new Head Coach of the LSU Tigers.
Given the animosity caused during his dramatic and bitter departure from his Oxford home, the return of Kiffin is always going to attract top billing. However, this week, in an article based on a conversation Kiffin had with Vanity Fair, petrol was poured on the estranged relationship with Ole Miss.
This can only mean that the meeting between the two schools in September will be a very tense affair indeed.
What did Kiffin Say?
Kiffin has been strangely and unusually quiet since his shock move from Ole Miss to LSU during the College Football Playoffs last year.
The switch has already dominated more column inches and talk show minutes than perhaps any college football story, maybe any sports story in the last few years. So there is no need to go over old ground.
However, Kiffin has not done much, if any, press and media with the local outlets in Baton Rouge since he arrived, and public appearances have been largely restricted to in and around campus, supporting other sports.
However, this week, Kiffin appeared on the front page, of all places, of Vanity Fair magazine, where he talks with Vanity Fair writer Chris Smith. Smith also interviewed Ole Miss Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss last month.
Given Kiffin’s relative silence, almost reclusive state (by Kiffin standards anyway) since his move to Baton Rouge, you might be forgiven for thinking that Vanity Fair was going to write a glowing puff piece on a football coach who loves the spotlight.
Kiffin speaks
Far from it. The article is a curious piece focusing a lot on Kiffin’s idiosyncrasies – clearly, there is a need to introduce Kiffin to a new audience here. However, Kiffin is rarely quoted directly in the article, but when he is, the controversy begins.
The article understandably focuses on his December move from Oxford, Mississippi, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Towards the end of the article, the piece shifts to discuss recruiting in Oxford. In the article, Kiffin is quoted,
“Kiffin says, top recruits would tell him, “‘Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’ That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’s diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kids because that’s the real world.”
As you might expect, this has not landed well, especially in Oxford. The article does go on to say that Kiffin contacted the author the next day to say,
“I just hope [my comment] comes across respectful to Ole Miss…. There are some things that I’m saying that are factual, they’re not shots.”
Which, to all intents and purposes, if anything, feels like a doubling down of the position as opposed to any kind of retraction or qualification of his words.
the complexity of the south
Kiffin raises the difficult subject of race, which is not a topic I feel qualified to discuss. However, I can say that I have visited the South frequently and that I know it is something that the people of the South confront head-on.
Like many other parts of the world, race is a complex issue. It is clear that the South has deep-rooted issues with race and continues to battle with this subject, and probably will for many years to come.
In recent years, I have been fortunate to get to know perhaps the best sports writer of my lifetime, Wright Thompson. I got to know Wright when he published his book, The Barn. The Barn, which describes the murder of Emmitt Till, the event which is universally thought to have driven the start of the Civil Rights Movement, highlights the issue of race in Mississippi. As such, Thompson is well placed to talk on the subject. Thompson is a Mississippi native. Kiffin less so.
Method in his madness?
My point here is about the thinking behind Kiffin’s comments and what he thought he would achieve by saying this. Unlike others, such as Thompson, who have been outspoken about it, Kiffin has chosen to speak about it now rather than during his Ole Miss tenure. Perhaps as a justification for his move, but it feels awkward and shallow.
I do wonder what Thompson, who lives in Oxford, and others make of Kiffin’s comments.
That’s not to say that Kiffin cannot comment on the issues the South has. It just feels badly timed and not a subject he felt a need to bring up while still in Oxford. It also stands out in the article and, alongside the other topics talked about, feels misplaced. But of course, this has less to do with racial equality and everything to do with recruiting effectively.
Kiffin's relationship with Ole Miss fans
I can’t say for certain, but it felt a lot like Lane Kiffin was adored by Ole Miss fans and the people of Oxford. I’m sure there were some, maybe even many, who did not like his personality, but he did bring the university and fans together by building a winning football team.
But the love wasn’t easily reciprocated. Kiffin often and regularly called out the Ole Miss fans. Low attendances, quiet fans, and fans leaving early were all regular complaints by Lane Kiffin. Now this is not new. Nick Saban was never shy about Alabama fans not turning up for the Crimson Tide’s games against “lesser” teams.
Kiffin seemed to take a page from Saban’s book when he felt the fans needed reprimanding.
winning solves everything
Kiffin’s criticism seemed to be accepted by Ole Miss fans. They may even have felt it was necessary to energise a fan base that was known to intimidate visiting teams. Ole Miss is known better for its fine Southern hospitality than a crazy, wild fanbase, which LSU certainly is.
Perhaps Ole Miss fans accepted this because it was Kiffin, and his team was winning. But when it became apparent that Kiffin was skipping town for Louisiana, their mood changed.
We have all seen the scenes of Kiffin being hounded at Oxford airport, with fans booing and heckling from the airport’s fences. They were hurt, scorned, and unhappy that their Head Football Coach had betrayed them.
For what its worth
The author of the Vanity Fair article, Chris Smith, openly struggles to understand Kiffin, saying, “After four hours of talking with Kiffin, I’m stumped: Is he endearingly sincere or so full of shit that it’s an art form?” in the piece.
He also quotes ESPN’s Paul Finebaum who is quoted as saying “I first met him in 2009, and I can’t decide either. Lane Kiffin is an introvert and he’s a drama queen. He’s sincere and he doesn’t get enough credit for his acting ability. It’s what makes him fascinating, and it’s what makes him the most polarizing coach in college football.”
I have had the opportunity to speak with Lane Kiffin on a few occasions. I’ve also spoken to beat writers who cover the Ole Miss Rebels. The general consensus is that you are never sure which Lane Kiffin you will get on any one day. I have had the “Kiffin sigh” when he doesn’t like the question, but I’ve also had the considered and alarmingly open Kiffin when he is engaged. He is a complex character – of that I think we all agree. Which, in all honesty, is why he commands such attention and intrigue.
September looms large
The scheduling gods gave us a present from above when they matched the LSU Tigers with a visit to the Ole Miss Rebels in only the third week of the new football season. What Lane Kiffin thinks of this, he hasn’t made public. But he is either laughing with or cursing the scheduling gods.
But what we do know is that when Kiffin returned to Tennessee after he left them to head west to USC, the reception was borderline insanity. While a million memes were launched that day, and maybe we can laugh about it now, the Vols fans were crazed. Objects, including a golf ball and several mustard bottles, rained down on Kiffin as he left the field. The scenes were wild. And let’s not forget that Kiffin returned to Tennessee some 11 years after he departed to L.A. to take the USC job. On this occasion, he left Ole Miss in December to return less than a year later. This is fresh in the mind of Rebels fans and does not bode well for Kiffin and LSU.
Southern Hospitality
Kiffin will not receive the warm Southern hospitality that other visitors receive when they visit the Grove on that Saturday in September. That much is guaranteed. I doubt Kiffin cares. The only thing on Lane Kiffin’s mind is to get a W and move on. Frankly, he has much bigger (cat)fish to fry in Baton Rouge these days.
But to you and me, this will be compulsive viewing in September. As a football coach familiar with the current situation once said, “get your popcorn ready”……
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.