There was no bigger storyline this weekend in college football than Lane Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss to face the very team he abandoned last year right before the College Football Payoff.
It was all anyone wanted to talk about during the week.
The buzz surrounding the game was palpable. A record-breaking 70,033 fans showed up to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford to watch Kiffin’s LSU Tigers face Pete Golding’s Rebels in what’s an early candidate for Game of the Year.
After coming back from down 17-3, LSU tied it late in the second half and appeared to be on the verge of taking the lead late in the fourth quarter. However, Trinidad Chambliss did what he does best — prove his doubters wrong — and Ole Miss pulled out a thrilling 32-24 victory.
Lane Kiffin Takes Massive Parting Shot at Ole Miss Fans
After the game, Kiffin shared a quick embrace with Golding before a heavy security detail rushed him off the field.
It was no secret that every single Ole Miss fan in attendance was soaking in Kiffin’s misery. Fans shouted at him as he left the field, and he was trending on social media for hours before, during, and after the game.
Speaking to reporters following LSU’s heartbreaking loss, Kiffin didn’t hesitate to keep playing the villain and throw some major shade at Ole Miss fans before departing back to Baton Rouge.
“I think you walk into a storm,” Kiffin said. “That’s what happens a lot of times in these games. You see it all the time — you walk in, it’s a build up. The stadium was full an hour early, so I guess I had to leave to get them to do that. You’re welcome.”
Kiffin’s implication that Rebels fans didn’t show up during his six-year tenure as head coach is an exaggeration.
The highest-attending game during his run as Rebels head coach came just last year when 68,138 fans showed up for Ole Miss’ 34-24 victory over the Florida Gators on Nov. 15.
Ole Miss Fans Fire Back
Kiffin’s comments weren’t perceived well by those very fans, many of whom hit the comment section to put their former head coach on blast.
“Everything is about this douche. What a narcissistic a——,” one fan replied.
“This clip needs to be played in psych classes across the country when studying narcissistic personality disorder,” another fan posted.
“Taking a bow after getting walked off is a choice,” a third fan quipped.
“He can’t help himself, it all revolves around him 🤮,” one user scoffed.
“Lane Kiffin’s a textbook narcissist & his fragile ego is hurt, boo hoo 😢 Hotty Toddy, it’s over!” another user celebrated.
“Lane venturing into generational hate watch category,” a third user noted.
Kiffin Admits He’s Grateful for Time With Ole Miss
Though Kiffin fed into the bad blood between himself and Ole Miss fans throughout the week leading into the game, he actually showed a bit of his human side after the game.
Kiffin admitted that he was thankful for the years he spent in Oxford — he led Ole Miss to a 55-19 record, three bowl wins, and a College Football Playoff appearance — and it really hit him being back in the Rebels’ stadium.
“There’s a lot of stuff [in] six years here, and a lot of things and a lot of life-changing experiences and a lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times,” Kiffin said.
“I just thought I would probably be more in, like, the competitive mode and just kind of embrace it. I don’t know. Sometimes you can’t predict your emotions. I know that sometimes I don’t act like it, but I’m a human too, you know.”
Kiffin also disclosed that he’s glad he can finally put the Ole Miss game in the rearview, stating: “I was thinking all week (I’ll be glad when the game is over), especially today, and I would have said that in a win or a loss. … It was just really a lot of emotions of gratefulness for this place and for the six years. It went well beyond football.”
Lane Kiffin Takes Brutal Shot at Ole Miss Fans After Heartbreaking LSU Loss