On this day last year, Black Friday, Lane Kiffin was forced to wrestle with a loss to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss began the year at 8-1, but dropped its final three games of the regular season.
That is not the case this year. Kiffin and the Rebels beat the Bulldogs in Starkville on Thursday night.
The 48-year-old head coach proceeded to troll a local reporter after the game and gave him his visor.
Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss were directly impacted by the reporter’s false reporter last year.
Part of the disappointing finish in 2022 stemmed from ongoing job rumors. Auburn fired Bryan Harsin and Lane Kiffin was the top candidate on the Plains.
Although Kiffin was never going to leave the Rebels for the Tigers, there was a lot of smoke.
Mississippi-based reporter Jon Sokoloff, sports director at WCBI, fired off a false report in the process. He said that Kiffin was planning to step down at Ole Miss and, as he put it, “Lane to Auburn is happening.”
Lane to Auburn was never happening. Sokoloff got bodied.
That’s news to me Jon. 🤦♂️. Nice sources 🚫👿🪑🍽
— Lane Kiffin
Kiffin later issued a “report” of his own.
Sokoloff, who was entirely unknown in the Magnolia State before, became a household name overnight. Kiffin addressed that notion during a fiery exchange at a press conference later that week.
It was falsely reported by Jon (Sokoloff), who is now famous. Congratulations. That you can just write whatever you want and I would do it, too, I think. You’re never held accountable and you get to become famous and maybe you’ll be right. Jon did it, so then I had to have a team meeting to say his article was wrong, which I’d love to know these unnamed sources from Jon.
— Lane Kiffin
Even though Sokoloff was wrong, and Kiffin signed a contract extension at Ole Miss, he maintained that his report was accurate. It was not.
It’s the job to report on solid information. That information can and does change.
— Jon Sokoloff
The information never changed. Sokoloff has since deleted his tweet.
Part of the Rebels’ late-season slide stemmed from the job rumors. Players were forced to deal with speculation about their head coach leaving during a crucial closing stretch of the college football season.
Kiffin admitted that Ole Miss lost some of its focus.
That was not the case this year. The Rebels were focused and finished strong at 10-2.
Kiffin was grateful for Sokoloff’s silence in 2023 and gifted him his visor on Thanksgiving. Hilarious.