OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Only one year ago, Mississippi fans hailed Lane Kiffin as the coach that helped them beat border-state rival LSU.
On Saturday, as the No. 8 Rebels prepared to host No. 7 LSU, Ole Miss fans were eager to mock and heckle Kiffin in myriad ways — and did so amid abundant security measures designed to ensure any expressions of betrayal, resentment or anger didn’t get out of hand as the lightning-rod coach returned to campus, this time with the Tigers.
The scene made Jessica Perkins, a 47-year-old Oxford-area dentist and Ole Miss graduate, a bit nervous.
She noted lightheartedly that “absolutely nothing good,” can happen when “the added animosity of the Kiffin situation” is layered upon longstanding rivals indulging in a full day of consumption of alcohol in oppressively hot weather — mostly sunny and in the mid 90s.
“Let's just play football and ignore the whole elephant in the room,” Perkins said. “We're the hospitality people. So, we're also praying that everybody stays safe, doesn't act stupid and we just show everybody a good time. Ole Miss is always going to win the party.”
LSU fans are regularly referred to as “corndogs” (because of the deep-fried aroma at their stadium) by fans at rival Southeastern Conference schools, and art posted at tailgate tents last year portrayed Kiffin riding one like a rodeo cowboy.
Predictably, Kiffin is now an object of sometimes creative derision in Oxford.
The famous, tree-lined, tailgating spot known as The Grove — where the Rebels walk on their way into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium — was teeming with people early in the morning. And when Kiffin's image appeared live on a big screen for an interview on ESPN, the first-year LSU coach was booed heartily.
Makeshift signs held aloft by members of the crowd behind the set referred to Kiffin as a traitor and portrayed him sticking corndogs up his nose and in his mouth. One stated, “This sign was listed as ‘doubtful,’” poking fun at Kiffin's apparent act of gamesmanship when he listed LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt as “doubtful” on Wednesday night before ultimately taking his name off the injury report by Friday night.
Matt Garrett, a 49-year-old Oxford resident and Ole Miss graduate, said a lot of the heckling was in good fun and that many in Mississippi were not “truly angry” at Kiffin because “he's done a lot for northern Mississippi and a lot for this program.”
Garrett said Ole Miss fans were just annoyed at the timing of his departure, right before the Rebels entered the College Football Playoff, and because of how Kiffin abruptly fled Oxford aboard a private jet sent to fetch him by LSU.
“How they kind of handled everything in the process was very unprofessional,” Garrett said. “There is going to be some anger, I'm sure, but hopefully with the Southern hospitality we have, we'll keep everything under control.”
Social media video late this week showed that Kiffin invited LSU fraternities and sororities to LSU's football facility to heckle the Tigers — an effort to provide a taste of what they would face on Saturday.
“We just try to do everything to simulate the game, simulate the day,” Kiffin said when asked about it during his morning TV appearance as boos and chants laced with vulgarities emanated from the crowd in The Grove. “There’s going to be a lot of emotion all through the stadium obviously that you’re feeling there right now.”
Mississippi state officials have said they were assembling the state’s largest law enforcement presence ever for a college football game this weekend in Oxford, a town of about 26,000 permanent residents, where authorities expected around 100,000 people to converge — many of them without tickets for 64,000-seat Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“Our priority is making sure everyone can enjoy the game and surrounding events safely,” said Sean Tindell, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. “This enhanced presence is about being prepared, staying proactive and working together.”
When Ole Miss played at Tennessee in 2021, bringing Kiffin back to another one of his previous coaching stops, play was halted for about 20 minutes after Volunteers fans upset about a fourth-down spot of the ball in the closing minutes of a close game pelted the field with objects. Kiffin said he was hit by golf balls and liquor bottles.
Ole Miss coach Pete Golding echoed the calls for restraint from Rebels fans.
“About Oxford, the first thing you talk about is the people there. Let’s not lose that over a game, over a person or anything else like that,” Golding said this week at his regular news conference. “There’s nothing wrong with being competitive, being in the moment, being really loud and being an unbelievable fan. At the end of the day, don’t lose what we’ve created.”
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A student walks past the former mascot Col. Reb, on the University of Mississippi campus prior to their NCAA college football game against LSU in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
