LSU head coach Lane Kiffin just proved how seriously the Tigers are taking his return to Oxford ahead of matchup with Ole Miss
The LSU Tigers are about to embark on arguably the most hostile environment in the history of sports, given everything that has happened this offseason, and Lane Kiffin’s latest comments further prove that.
Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers are preparing for what might be the most hostile environment college football has ever seen. The former Ole Miss head coach addressed reporters during his Monday press conference about his return to Oxford, and the quote he delivered tells you everything you need to know about the magnitude of this rivalry game.
“I guess there’s real safety issues and stuff, so there’s people that have a plan for that. It is what it is,” Kiffin said via Next Round Live on Instagram.
If that quote doesn’t tell you how big of a deal this game is going to be, nothing will. The fact that extra security measures are being put in place for Kiffin’s return to Oxford speaks volumes about the vitriol, the hostility, and the outright angst that Ole Miss fans harbor for LSU and, more specifically, for Kiffin himself.
Kiffin is trying to deflect pressure from his players
Kiffin went further during the press conference, essentially telling his team that the pressure isn’t on them. His message was clear: the Ole Miss faithful hate him, not the players. He pointed out that the Rebels are the ones with a returning backfield featuring two Heisman candidates. They’re the ones who won multiple double-digit games last season and went to the College Football Playoff.
The truth is, that’s probably mental gymnastics on Kiffin’s part, an attempt to psych up his squad and take some of the heat off their shoulders. It’s a classic coaching move, and Kiffin has always been one of the more calculated communicators in the sport.
The entire country will be watching
Make no bones about it. Everybody in the country is going to be locked into this one. Not just the fans in Oxford, Mississippi. Not just the ones inside that stadium. Not just the SEC faithful. Every college football fan who doesn’t bleed purple and gold, who isn’t a Baton Rouge LSU supporter, is going to be rooting for the Ole Miss Rebels.
Do I think LSU and Kiffin have brought a lot of the animosity on themselves? Absolutely, positively, 100%. Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss created a wound that hasn’t healed, and now he’s walking right back into the building where it all went down.
This rivalry game could be unlike anything we’ve seen
It is going to be fascinating to see what happens when that ball is spotted, when foot touches ball, and the game kicks off. In my opinion, this has the potential to be the most vicious rivalry game college football has ever seen.
The way I see it, Kiffin knows exactly what he’s walking into — the security concerns, the crowd noise, the hatred from the stands. None of it will be a surprise. Whether his players can block all of that out and focus on the game itself is the question that will determine who walks out of Oxford with a win.
