When Lane Kiffin left Oxford, Mississippi, for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he closed a chapter of a book that felt unfinished. Once again, Kiffin rebranded himself — an image he has tarnished at every coaching stop.
At one point, his actions were so deplorable that Tennessee Volunteers fans hurled perfectly good mustard bottles at him when he returned to Knoxville. He had brought a storied program in Ole Miss back from a proverbial SEC dead zone. He then found himself, and that team, in the College Football Playoff.
Personally, he spoke about his recovery and the happiness and peace of mind that he felt in Oxford. For Lane Kiffin, Oxford, Mississippi, was where the narrative shifted.
In some ways, people had begun to like Lane Kiffin. They saw his off-brand personality as a quirk rather than something shifty. But the day he left Oxford for Baton Rouge, Lane Kiffin became the most hated guy in sports. Labeled a traitor. Labeled a coward. Labeled overrated and a multitude of other things.
When he returned to Ole Miss on Saturday night, the Ole Miss Rebels fans made their feelings clear. In the end, though, their words didn’t matter. How so? The Rebels won the game.
The ultimate irony was clear: what Kiffin helped create at Ole Miss was still intact. His new team never quite matched the Rebels’ intensity. For one night in September, Ole Miss ruled supreme at the top of college football.
Photo courtesy Chicago Sun-Times
It’s easy to hate Lane Kiffin. Almost too easy, perhaps. But after watching his return to Ole Miss, you can feel a sense of pity, too. Yes, dare I say pity?
Kiffin has never fully committed to any team.
Could we have expected him to stay at Ole Miss? Honestly, no. So why were we so surprised when he went to LSU?
At this point in life, Lane Kiffin still seems to be searching for something that no football stop has ever provided. His tenure at Ole Miss was perhaps his most successful, and he had two quarterbacks who excelled under his guidance. One did so well that he’s the starter for the New York Giants, while the other is probably headed to be a starter in the NFL, too.
What Kiffin did in Oxford, many coaches could only aspire to. But it wasn’t good enough for Kiffin.
What does Lane Kiffin want his legacy to be? Does he want to be known as the guy who always bails, or as one of the best coaches of all time? Or do those things even matter? What does Kiffin want to be remembered for? Is LSU even the last place Lane Kiffin will coach?
So many questions remain unanswered.
When Lane Kiffin walked his team out of the tunnel for the game against Ole Miss, something seemed to be missing. His face was expressionless, and his body language didn’t exactly exude arrogance. In a way, Kiffin looked like he didn’t know how to feel. Oxford had been good to him.
The fans had lauded him. His players had considered him a mentor. Oxford had been a source of serenity in a college football world crowded with noise. So how could Kiffin even truly hate the town in any way? The opposing coach, Pete Golding, had been his defensive coordinator. The quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss, was one he had advocated for. That Ole Miss team was one he had helped create.
It’s hard to hate something you created and found success with.
Photo courtesy Daily Journal
It wasn’t like when Kiffin went back to Tennessee. Then, he seemed to enjoy the Volunteer fans throwing items his way. He thought it comical. Al Davis called him a snake after he left the Raiders, and that didn’t seem to faze him.
Leaving USC didn’t even seem sad.
Florida Atlantic. Same.
Alabama. Ditto.
Nothing truly ever seemed to faze Lane Kiffin. He seemed to revel in the role the media had labeled him with.
But genuine sadness seemed to find him on Saturday. For a second, it was as if he wondered why he left at all.
Why did he feel like going to LSU was the right decision? What is he even chasing?
LSU hasn’t been kind to its last few coaches, to say the least—even the one who won a national championship. In college football, coaches seem to go to LSU only to be let down by their own expectations.
If Kiffin wins a national championship in Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge will be ecstatic, but would Lane Kiffin be?
Whatever Lane Kiffin is chasing doesn’t seem apparent to the rest of us. Will it ever be? Someone who never seems truly content anywhere may not be a villain. Lane Kiffin may simply be unsure of his own legacy. If so, another unanswered question looms large: So, what will that legacy be?
