MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Six months after the highest-profile breakup in college football, Lane Kiffin says two things can still be true.“You can have had a wonderful experience and everything you said about those six years where you needed Oxford and Ole Miss more than they needed you. And that can totally be true,” Kiffin said Tuesday at the conclusion of the first day of SEC meetings, “and then you can choose a new challenge and go to another place. And so both those things are true.”After a lengthy, days-long discussion of whether he’d be allowed to stay on and coach his Ole Miss team, Kiffin left the Rebels for LSU and was not allowed to continue coaching. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding was promoted to head coach and led Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff semifinals, beating Tulane and Georgia before losing to Miami, which scored a game-winning touchdown in the final minute.
As for Kiffin’s relationship with Ole Miss now, he elected to remain tight-lipped.“I know you wanted that line,” he said, declining to answer the question. “I had a really good one, too.”Kiffin sparked anger from Rebels fans after telling Vanity Fair the university’s history around race relations had been an obstacle in recruiting.Kiffin said top recruits would say, “Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.“That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana,” Kiffin said. “Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’ diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.’”SEC commissioner Greg Sankey declined to say whether any coaches in the league might be sanctioned for recent comments criticizing Ole Miss but that he spoke with coaches about “expectations and care” in relating to one another during meetings Tuesday.“Those people in leadership positions need to function like leaders in their conduct and commentary,” he said.When asked whether Kiffin, in particular, will be fined for his remarks on Ole Miss, Sankey replied, “You’ll find out when everyone else finds out. I don’t make those announcements at podiums.”Kiffin was asked why he chose LSU over Florida and said his choice involved “lots of conversations,” but the decision was more about LSU’s positives than Florida’s negatives.“You’re not gonna please everybody in decisions, and that’s impossible, as it obviously has played out,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we went through all kinds of different things, a number of different options, and we made this decision for the next chapter.”May 27, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
