LSU governor Jeff Landry is ready to scramble to jets if it comes to that in Lane Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss.
After Kiffin’s historic return to Knoxville in 2021 and the hostility that followed, LSU is taking no chances in Kiffin’s trip to Oxford in Week 3, which consists of about 6 times more enraged fans.
Kiffin ditched Tennessee after just a year with them. He left the Rebels after six seasons, right before their first playoff run. To say that the Ole Miss fans are enraged is an understatement.
According to ESPN’s Mark Salabach, Jeff Landry has been in back-and-forth discussions with Ole Miss officials to ensure Kiffin and the players’ safety.
“I know that we’ve been talking with Mississippi and making sure that we have adequate security for the team and coach,” Landry said, urging the Rebels to host them with their classic ‘Southern Hospitality’ charm.
“But I’m hoping that we can go there and play in complete Southern hospitality and have a great, great game.”
LSU’s Jeff Landry Jokes About Resorting to National Guards for Security
Landry knows this circus has been circled on the calendar since the schedule dropped. They can draw up all the security schemes they want, but when 60,000 screaming fans smell blood in the water, all bets are off.
“I’m thinking about having to send him in on an F-16 and maybe the team on a C-130,” Landry joked, trying to ease the tension. “Security is going to be really tight. You know, we might need the National Guard out there to protect our team. I think it’s going to be an interesting weekend.”
Even Kiffin was concerned about his security when he dropped his no-nonsense thoughts on the hostility that’s waiting to erupt this weekend.
“We talk about that,” Kiffin said. “I guess there’s real safety issues and stuff, so there’s people that have a plan for that.”
However, he quickly pivoted to the safety of his players instead of talking more about his previous program.
“I told the players today, ‘Man, you don’t have anything to worry about as far as, like, attention on you all week and everything. There’s going to be so much attention, hatred, everything on me. You just get to go play.'”
Pete Golding Urges Peace From His End
Even Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding urged the fans to maintain their cool, and “not loose it over a game or a person.”
“Let’s not lose that over a game, over a person, over anyone else like that. There’s nothing wrong with being competitive and being in the moment and being really loud and being an unbelievable fan. But at the end of the day, don’t lose what we have created and what they have created for so long, which is a really unique place with really good people that’s really hard to play,” Golding said during his media availability.
Both Ole Miss and LSU enter what’s perhaps the matchup of this season as 2-0 teams. Still, the Rebels shoulder more pressure to win, and that’s coming from the Tigers‘ head coach himself.
“Really, the pressure’s on them,” Kiffin told his players. “We won seven games last year. They won 13. They return two Heisman candidates. How often does that ever happen in the same backfield? We had it one time [at USC] with Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush . You guys just get to go play. The pressure’s not on you.'”
LSU also has Sam Leavitt who might partially be in the mix for Heisman, but it’s still early to say anything.
LSU Governor Jeff Landry Reveals Plans for Lane Kiffin’s Security for Ole Miss Return