‘Louisiana Rejects The DEI, Anti-White Culture’: Lane Kiffin Says Ole Miss’ Complex Racial History Hurt Recruiting, While Tigers Fans Warn New Coach Not To Make Diversity His Platform
In a recent profile interview with Vanity Fair, new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, who is known for his ability to bs his way around a media session, was attacked by fans for citing Ole Miss’s lingering Confederate symbols and lack of campus diversity as roadblocks to recruiting top talent to Oxford, Mississippi, where he formerly coached and fell short of championship aspirations.
He felt the racial history of the state and its attitudes toward diversity created problems when recruiting top players of color. Kiffin abandoned Oxford for LSU, suggesting that Baton Rouge faces fewer such concerns from players’ parents and grandparents.
In explaining his decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU, Lane Kiffin seems willing to invoke Ole Miss's struggle to distance itself from symbols like the Confederate flag, Colonel Rebel, and the nickname "Ole Miss" itself.
When he was coaching there, Kiffin says, top recruits would…
Lane Kiffin Says Ole Miss History Of Exclusion, Confederate Ideology Hurt Recruiting
In explaining his decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU, Lane Kiffin suggested that Ole Miss’s struggle to distance itself from symbols like the Confederate flag, Colonel Rebel, and the nickname “Ole Miss” itself was problematic. When he was coaching there, Kiffin says, top recruits would shy away from the school because of its complex history as it pertains to race, inclusion and diversity.
His recent interview didn’t sit well with college football fans, some of which already had a bad taste in their mouths about Kiffin’s tendency to skip out on a situation.
Fans Say Kiffin Left For The Money: $91M Contract To Coach LSU
Most challenged his excuse that Ole Miss’ ties to the Confederacy factored into him taking LSU’s $91 million contract.
It was a masterful way for Kiffin to flip the situation and attribute the motivating factor for joining LSU into something that appeared as if he was making a moral and principled decision about the recruiting environment in Oxford. Fans say there’s no evidence of what Kiffin has said and Ole Miss has been able to recruit elite athletes for years. In addition, the university has made efforts to distance itself from Confederate imagery, including changing the state flag in 2020. Which is a tough task considering how strongly the citizens of the state are culturally tied to it.
The real problem lies with funding. Ole Miss is a smaller school than many competing SEC schools. As far as the ability to recruit, Kiffin secured the No. 2 transfer recruiting class in 2021-22. But even back then, he whined about how Ole Miss can’t compete with elite programs like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, etc., because of resources and funding from NIL.
College Football Fans Come For Lane Kiffin
Fans came for Kiffin at all angles.
“As a lifelong LSU fan and someone that is excited about the upcoming season, this may be the beginning of the end for you @Lane_Kiffin Louisiana rejects the DEI, anti white culture and political correctness. Pandering for national popularity will make you lose it locally,” one fan warned.
To which another fan replied: “All black athletes need to come to their senses and stop going to these sec schools. With the political strife going on in Louisiana, they’re telling us how they really feel about black people. But we already knew this.”
One fan broke out a chart that shows Ole Miss has the highest percentage of Black students compared to other SEC schools. Then, another fan presented a chart that refutes the previous user’s chart.
“I don’t know where you got those percentages from,” the fan replied. “Mississippi State is at 16% black and Ole Miss is at 10% black, and LSU is at 21% black,” the fan captioned.
Fake news
I don't know where you got those percentages from
Mississippi State is at 16% black and Ole Miss is at 10% black, and LSU is at 21% black pic.twitter.com/sT7ZRx6Blg
“Oh look. Baton Rouge wants to segregate the whole city. Imagine if@vanityfair employed legitimate journalists. Kiffin or CAA had to pay a lot of money to be able to publish outright lies. Like his ESPN special, all bullshit,” one fan ranted.
Vanity Fair Article Ripped For Inaccuracy
As far as the story, according to CBS Sportswriter Chase Parham, the opening paragraph of VF’s article contains a description of an incident with Kiffin and some nasty fans that was refuted by the Mississippi Highway Patrol:
“Lane Kiffin looked like a fugitive. He was standing in a scrubby field divided by a chain-link fence, shifting his weight anxiously from one foot to the other. He’d just been followed down a country highway by an angry mob, which screamed curses and gave him the finger.”
What’s The Difference Between Mississippi & Louisiana?
Moving from Ole Miss to LSU isn’t much of a change as far as Confederate history goes. It has been pointed out that the LSU mascot and moniker, the Tigers, has ties to the Civil War. The Tigers nickname is reportedly directly tied to Confederate Civil War units — the Louisiana Tiger Rifles and Washington Artillery, which fought under Robert E. Lee. So as Kiffin prepares for his first game as head coach of the LSU Tigers on Sept. 6 against Clemson, he has even less fans in his old stomping grounds of Mississippi.
