Lane Kiffin has revealed ‘diversity’ played a huge factor in his decision to join LSU after suggesting the racial history of Ole Miss made it difficult to recruit players.
The 51-year-old controversially swapped Ole Miss for LSU back in November, putting pen to paper on a $91million contract with the Tigers in a blockbuster college football move.
Seven months on from his Mississippi exit, Kiffin has opened up on his decision to wave goodbye to the city of Oxford in an interview with Vanity Fair, claiming Baton Rouge is a more appealing destination for the families of players because it has ‘no segregation.’
The publication started by saying that the college football coach ‘seems willing to indirectly invoke Ole Miss’s struggle to distance itself from symbols like the Confederate flag, Colonel Rebel, and the nickname “Ole Miss” itself’ as one of the reasons he departed.
Kiffin then recalled being told by players: “‘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. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’s diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.’”
Lane Kiffin has revealed he opted to leave Ole Miss due to a lack of ‘diversity’ in Oxford
The 51-year-old opened up on his controversial decision to swap Ole Miss for LSU last year
Ole Miss has a complicated history with its ties to the Old South – the period in the Southern United States between the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 and the start of the Civil War in 1861 which was characterized by slavery and plantation agriculture.
Back in 1997, the school’s fans were urged not to wave Confederate flags – which symbolized the fight to protect slavery – before their home games at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium.
Six years later Ole Miss removed Colonel Rebel as its on-field mascot due to its perceived ties to the Confederacy, before replacing it with a Rebel Black Bear, which was later succeeded by Tony the Landshark.
Even the school’s ‘Ole Miss’ nickname has a controversial origin after being derived from the term enslaved people once used for the mistress of the plantation.
However, Kiffin’s remark about LSU being a more diverse option for players has inevitable sparked outrage on social media.
One user argued on X: ‘This is such a load of bull. Mississippi has the largest % of African Americans than any other state. Ole Miss is the ONLY SEC school that has all 9 African American sororities and fraternities active on their campus. Lane will say anything to try to step on Ole Miss on his way out.’
‘Kiffin suddenly had a conscience about the rebel flag after 6 years!? I call BS,’ wrote another.
A third asked: ‘And what did Lane Kiffin supposedly say to these supposed parents of supposed recruits who supposedly made such comments? How did he supposedly respond? Did he agree with them as he implies now? Did he try to persuade them otherwise, and if so was he lying to them in his mind?’
While one simply concluded: ‘I’m of the belief that Lane Kiffin would say whatever he thought would make him look better.. truth be damned’.
