The SEC considers a formal reprimand after LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin’s explosive remarks regarding the Ole Miss recruiting culture sparked a firestorm of controversy and backlash from his former program.
Lane Kiffin making headlines isn't anything new or unexpected by the LSU Tigers, but the latest controversy is certainly one that no one saw coming.
USA Today Sports' Matt Hayes reported on Tuesday that the SEC has met with the Ole Miss Rebels about a "potential reprimand" over recent comments made by Kiffin in a Vanity Fair interview.
That interview has turned into a whirlwind for Kiffin. Just the latest chapter in the ever-growing hatred that the Rebels fanbase feels for the coach who just led them to the best season in school history.
Here is the full excerpt from Kiffin in the Vanity Fair piece from Chris Smith:
"Kiffin also seems willing to indirectly invoke Ole Miss’ struggle to distance itself from symbols like the Confederate flag, Colonel Rebel, and the nickname "Ole Miss" itself. When he was coaching there, 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 kid because that’s the real world."
Even if it's not how Kiffin meant to come across, it's not hard to see why Ole Miss and their fanbase weren't particularly happy about how it makes them look. Racial injustice is a hot-button issue in the United States, no matter how it gets brought up. Painting a community in a negative light in that way will always ruffle feathers.
Since the interview was released and the uproar began, the Tigers' coach has since released a couple of public statements about it.
Kiffin said this to Wilson Alexander of On3 the day after the piece came out:
“I really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended by that. In a four-hour interview, I was asked a lot of questions on a lot of things, and Ole Miss has been wonderful to me and to my family. I was asked questions about the differences in recruiting, and I said a narrative that we battled there from some out-of-state Black parents and grandparents was not wanting their kid to move to Mississippi. That's a narrative that coaches have been fighting forever. It wasn't calculated by bringing it up."
That, however, did not suffice or end the backlash. As of this writing, the SEC is still supposedly considering some form of punishment for Kiffin.
The coach's latest public comments on the matter came from Hayes. "People don't read the actual words I used in the article. I said, 'A parent said.' That’s not me saying it as my opinion," said the coach.
This will likely end in just yet another punch to the relationship between Kiffin and the Rebels. If there wasn't enough pure hatred between the two schools a year ago at this time, there certainly is now.
It wouldn't be surprising to find out that Kiffin knew exactly how his comments would be received and still used it as an easy chance to put down/embarrass his former school and a program that they will continuely will be recruiting against.
On the same hand, there might not be enough there to actual cause a punishment from the SEC. But Ole Miss clearly has not love lost with Kiffin, and any chance they get to cause something negative to happen to him is one they will take.
The September 19 road trip to Oxford, Miss. will be an interesting one for Kiffin and LSU. It will be one of the most anticipated college football games in a long time.
