Everyone is glad Lane Kiffin week is over, especially the LSU football coach

OXFORD — LSU football coach Lane Kiffin is glad his return to Ole Miss is finished.

Kiffin has become college football's coaching firebrand because of his ability to attract attention; for reasons good and bad. Leaving Ole Miss for rival LSU days before the Rebels' first College Football Playoff game last year was defining event in a dramatic career.

Since then, he's drawn headlines for attempting to add former NFL training camp cuts Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to the roster, which forced the SEC to threaten the expulsion of LSU. A recent book on him is even subtitled "College football's agent of chaos."

Ole Miss football vs LSU, Lane Kiffin returns top photos, Trinidad Chambliss, Kewan Lacy

And yet, in an emotionally exhausting return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium billed as one of the greatest villain spectacles in recent sports history, Kiffin said he's glad it's over. No. 9 Ole Miss beat his No. 7 Tigers 32-24 on Sept. 19.

"Yeah. I'm sure I'll be criticized for saying that, but yeah, I am," Kiffin said. "I was thinking that all week. Especially today. I would have said that in a win or a loss."

The Rebels jumped ahead 10-0 in the first quarter and led 24-7 at halftime. Kiffin attributed his team's slow start to "walking into a storm" that the Ole Miss crowd created. There were a record 70,033 fans on hand who paid a record amount of money for opportunity to boo Kiffin.

Kiffin said he felt the storm building up throughout the week. It was hard not to.

Ole Miss and Mississippi law enforcement combined to bring in extra police officers to staff the game.

Because of City Ordinance 7.2.5 that bars "pennants, spinners, streamers, balloons and bedsheets" from being attached to the exterior of residential or commercial buildings, the Oxford Police Department had to remove bedsheets with designs making fun of Kiffin.

There was even an official "Roast of Lane Kiffin" on Sept. 16 at a concert venue on The Oxford Square.

Fans at ESPN's "College GameDay" picked up where the comedians left off with signs and chants on Sept. 19 in The Grove. Ole Miss fans plastered images of Kiffin in 2020, before his significant weight loss transformation that he credits hot yoga and sobriety to, on gameday buttons and T-shirts.

The firehose of attention culminated at the game. Profane chants directed toward Kiffin could be heard early and often.

Kiffin said he was surprised by his emotions his return brought on. The six seasons he spent at Ole Miss is the longest tenure in his coaching career.

"There's a lot of stuff," Kiffin said. "Six years here. A lot of life-changing experiences. A lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times."

Ole Miss fans blame Kiffin for the vitriol. Lifelong fan Jacob Gaines likened his departure in 2025 to "throwing the finger up". Oxford resident Cassidy Jones said The Magnolia Bowl is " more personal now ." Die-hard fan Tucker Johnson said Kiffin is into coaching more for celebrity status than footbal l.

The environment made Kiffin feel more like a normal person than ever.

"I know that sometimes I don't act like it, but I'm a human too," Kiffin said.

Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_