Lane Kiffin is the ex you dread running into in public. The breakup was ugly and drawn out, his ego only got bigger and now he seems to be thriving without you. On Saturday, Ole Miss is hoping to be the Elle Woods to Kiffin's Warner Huntington III — only the Rebels aren't playing to win him back.
The only problem with that plan is that Kiffin never seems to lose a breakup. He's 2-0 when facing a team he used to lead. He beat Tennessee, his first head coaching gig, 31-26 in 2021, and he got revenge on USC, the program he left the Volunteers for, with a 52-6 win while OC at Alabama in 2016. However, when Kiffin led Ole Miss he never beat the Tide (0-4), where he was offensive coordinator for three seasons, and three of his four losses to Nick Saban featured current Rebels head coach Pete Golding on the opposite sideline.
That's the only hope Ole Miss can cling to at the moment. Their leader appears to be Kiffin's kryptonite when facing a former flame. Saturday will put that theory to the test, but the likely conclusion is Golding benefitted from Saban continuing his own dominant streak against former assistants (28-3).
Ole Miss is about to find out why Lane Kiffin always wins the breakup
If there's anything fans have learned about Kiffin, it's that he's ruthless. Outside of his gamesmanship and rule-bending, his teams give no quarter to opponents when the offensive capability is present. Dabo Swinney and Clemson learned that first hand in Week 1 after suffering a 51-10 slaughtering in the real Death Valley.
Despite Kiffin getting the yips around Alabama and Golding, there's a huge difference between the kind of threat the mighty Saban-led Crimson Tide posed and the unproven effort the scrappy Rebels will attempt to put up. Golding isn't leading a defensive line stacked with All-Americans nor a secondary full of first-round NFL Draft picks.
Kiffin is also very familiar with Golding's schemes. He practically taught him everything he knows, especially with returning quarterback Trinidad Chambliss under center. LSU's defenders will have studied his tape more than they studied for next week's homework assignment.
The gamesmanship will also play a factor. It appears Kiffin tried to mess with Ole Miss's preparation by claiming quarterback Sam Leavitt was injured and could've missed Saturday's game. He was listed as "doubtful" on Wednesday's injury report but conveniently was removed entirely by Friday.
Despite all the hate that goes into facing a Kiffin return, he does everything he can to make sure his ex doesn't get the best of him. There's just a level of swagger, love it or hate it, that Kiffin brings and his teams seem to feed off it. Saturday will determine whether he's still got it or he's just not serious enough for Oxford.
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