Sports

Pete Golding Rejects Lane Kiffin’s Implication That He Isn’t Safe In Mississippi

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Pete Golding rejects Lane Kiffin's implications about safety in Mississippi.


Lane Kiffin will return to Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday for the first time since leaving the Ole Miss Rebels for LSU. The atmosphere is expected to be quite unwelcoming when he steps foot in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The Tigers head coach will hear plenty of boobirds from the home fanbase. Will his safety be threatened?

In a pregame press conference, he touched on those concerns.

“I guess there’s real safety issues and stuff, so there’s people that have a plan for that,” he said while addressing the media on Monday. He went onto say that the target will be on him, alone. LSU players have nothing to worry about.

Kiffin has done more than stir the pot after burning his bridge to Oxford. He’s taken a number of veiled shots at the Rebels since the day he accepted a new role.

Kiffin said that he was run off the road by scorned Ole Miss supporters while trying to leave town. There was group of fans waiting for him at the tarmac, but Mississippi police denied his false claims of road rage.

Later in the offseason, he suggested that racism played a role in his leaving the state. That, unsurprisingly, didn’t sit well with his former fanbase.

He has a tendency of twisting the knife after leaving programs high and dry. Ole Miss has been no different. His counterpart will not accept his implication of a safety threat.

Pete Golding rejects Lane Kiffin’s narrative.

Kiffin is a polarizing figure in the sport. He pushes the limits of fans, administrators, and the NCAA, as seen with his recent attempts to add NFL players to the LSU roster.

As a result, he’s largely hated by every program outside of Baton Rouge. No other person on earth has had the SEC threaten to exile his program before ever coaching a game with the team.

With that said, he wins. The school that has him, loves him, but he’s been quick to drop loyalties in the past.

Kiffin famously bailed on Tennessee after one season to coach at USC. After a failed stint, he wound up back in the SEC with rival Alabama. The then-assistant claims he was asked to wear a bulletproof vest in his return to Knoxville.

That may not have been the most outlandish request as he was pelted by golf balls and mustard bottles in one of his more recent appearances in Neyland Stadium.

Pete Golding says bulletproof vests and extra security won’t be necessary this Saturday. While Mississippi police are bracing for a raucous environment, Golding is not worried about poor fan behavior.

Golding expects fans to be respectful. He says that’s part of what makes Oxford great, though he still anticipates a loud crowd and sold-out stadium for Kiffin’s return.

Lane Kiffin’s safety will not be threatened in Mississippi, but he will not be shielded from negative attention when he steps foot back on his old stomping grounds.