Lane Kiffin and Jeff Lebby previously worked together at Ole Miss when the latter served as the offensive coordinator for the former. Now, after a not-so-amicable split, they are major rivals.
Shots are already being fired!
Kiffin took over as the head coach in Oxford in 2020. Lebby joined him for two seasons before he left for the same job at Oklahoma. There is a lot of tension between them, whether they admit it publicly or not.
If that was not clear before, it was made abundantly clear on Tuesday. Kiffin went back four years to, essentially, call Lebby fat. Those were not the exact words, but you can read between the lines.
The 49-year-old did an interview with Pardon My Take during his first year with the Rebels. That was long before his weight health transformation. Kiffin in 2024 rarely misses a day of hot yoga. He doesn’t drink. He mostly cut bread and carbs out of his diet.
Kiffin in 2020 had not quite reached that level of fitness. He was a bit heavy. People took notice.
That interview took place almost four full years ago. And yet, for some reason, Kiffin responded to ‘Johnny Quarantine’ on Tuesday!
He took a jab at his former offensive coordinator to say that the reason for his extra poundage was because of him. Lebby was heavy then. Lebby is heavy now.
It’s not hard to tell what Kiffin was implying. This seemingly unprovoked jab was a shot at Lebby’s weight.
And it makes an already hostile rivalry even more so!
Jeff Lebby was named as the head football coach at Mississippi State in November. The 2024 college football season will be his first year as a head coach and his first year with the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State and Ole Miss hate each other.
Hate might even be an understatement. It is something that is ingrained in the children of the Magnolia State from birth. They have to pick a side. Do they want to go to a prestigious, high-class institute of higher learning or wear overalls and clean up cow dung?
Either way, no matter what they choose, they are taught to hate the school they didn’t choose. The Egg Bowl rivalry is always intense. It is often vitriolic. Lane Kiffin is just adding fuel to that already burning fire!