Lane Kiffin was viciously booed as he finally returned to Ole Miss on Saturday night ahead of their grudge match against his LSU team.
Saturday’s showdown marks the first time the divisive Tigers head coach has stepped foot in Oxford, Mississippi since he dramatically defected to their SEC rivals in November.
Kiffin stunned the college football world when he left for LSU after leading Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff.
Tensions have been high ever since and Rebels fans lined the streets outside their Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to await the arrival of Kiffin and his team.
Kiffin, accompanied by a number of police officers, stepped off the LSU bus with around 90 minutes to go until kick off and was greeted by a chorus of boos and jeers from thousands of Ole Miss fans.
He stayed calm and waved in their direction, while a smattering of cheers from traveling Tigers fans could just about be heard over the vitriol being thrown Kiffin’s way.
Lane Kiffin was viciously booed as he finally returned to Ole Miss on Saturday night
Kiffin, accompanied by a number of police officers, was greeted by a chorus of boos and jeers
Kiffin was also booed heavily when he stepped onto the field at Vaught Hemingway Stadium
Mississippi state officials have said they are assembling the state’s largest law enforcement presence ever for a college football game this weekend in Oxford, a town of about 26,000 permanent residents, where authorities expected around 100,000 people to converge – many of them without tickets for 64,000-seat Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Kiffin spoke to ESPN on the field moments after he arrived. He said: ‘It’s an exciting day. Two great teams. Two top 10 teams. Electric crowd and great energy around it.
‘This is what is great. SEC football. What an exciting thing for both programs to be on this stage.’
Asked what it was like getting off the bus, Kiffin added: ‘We’ve done this thing before. It’s kind of fun. You just embrace it. Both teams are going to have a lot of fun tonight.’
Just in case there were any lingering doubts where Kiffin now stands with Ole Miss fans, the Rebel faithful made their feelings crystal clear during Saturday’s live broadcast of ESPN’s College GameDay.
Speaking via satellite from the team’s hotel in Oxford, Kiffin’s face was projected onto a large screen overlooking the throngs of students and Rebels fans.
Almost immediately, chants of ‘a**hole’ began to ring out from the group.
‘I really appreciate you guys gaslighting them with this,’ Kiffin told the ESPN panel.
And as if that weren’t enough, fans naturally brought some derisive signs to the College GameDay broadcast.
‘I’m 10 and I make better decisions than Lane,’ read a sign held by one young Ole Miss fan.
One young woman brought a sign humorously suggesting she and Kiffin previously dated: ‘Why is my ex here?’
Kiffin did try to defuse the tension at a few moments, once telling the panel: ‘It’s not about me. Both teams have great players, great coaches, [I] have a lot of respect for their program.’
Meanwhile, chants of ‘a**hole’ continued to rage in the background.
Kiffin was targeted by Ole Miss fans during Saturday’s episode of College GameDay
Fans naturally brought some derisive signs to the College GameDay broadcast
One young Rebels fan claimed to make better decisions than the 51-year-old Kiffin
It was the latest in a growing buildup for the first top-10 matchup between No. 7 LSU and eighth-ranked Ole Miss since 1962.
It started when Kiffin left the Rebels to take the LSU job and a $91 million contract just as the team he had coached for six years was days away from its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Kiffin wanted to stay through the playoff, but Ole Miss moved on to coach Pete Golding and advanced to the CFP semifinals. LSU finished 7-6, capped by a loss in the Texas Bowl.
The off-field storylines haven’t stopped since. Kiffin’s comments about whether Black players could be recruited to Ole Miss, lawsuits alleging Ole Miss transfers owe big money for reneging on their NIL deals and LSU’s now-abandoned defiance of rules against rostering former pro players have only brightened the spotlight for this one.
LSU threw another wrinkle into the mix by saying midweek that quarterback Sam Leavitt was ‘doubtful’ to play, sparking immediate fan accusations of gamesmanship. He’s been upgraded since and is expected to start.
Kiffin himself acknowledged there could be ‘hatred’ in the stands Saturday. Security has been dramatically increased as authorities expect 100,000 people in Oxford, a town whose school-year population of about 25,000 is virtually all students.
LSU leads the overall series between these border rivals 65-39-3, but Ole Miss has won three of the past five meetings, including last year in Oxford. The Tigers opened as 2 1/2-point favorites after giving up just two offensive touchdowns through two games, but they will be challenged by a pair of Heisman Trophy contenders in Ole Miss’ backfield: quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.
The winner improves to 3-0 on the season — and gets savory bragging rights.
