GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Things go better with tweets, as far as Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is concerned. He has more than 693,000 followers on his account with X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kiffin made fun of LSU coach Brian Kelly’s rant above after LSU lost the opener this season to USC in Las Vegas. Kelly pounded the podium in a rant with a bottle of Dasani water, a product of the Coca-Cola Company, next to him after the 27-20 loss.
Kelly, who has only just under 257,000 followers on his X account, took a humorous jab at Kiffin last August at a press conference directed at a previous Kiffin tweet about the amount of sugar in a Coca-Cola, aka Coke.
And who can forget Kiffin’s shot on X at Kelly in 2022 when the LSU coach tried to dance in a video posted on X by LSU target Danny Lewis Jr., a tight end from Westgate High in New Iberia?
Kelly also lost that recruit as Lewis ended up signing with Alabama and remains there.
So far this week, though, Kiffin has behaved himself in press conferences and on X as No. 9 Ole Miss (5-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) prepares to play at No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC).
Kelly, though, is ready for anything.
“I just think you have to look at how many followers he has on Twitter,” Kelly said at his press conference Monday when asked about Kiffin’s unique skills as a “communicator” by Associated Press writer Brett Martel, who did not bring up X or Twitter. Kelly injected that.
“I mean, he’s got a blue check mark, doesn’t he? Isn’t that how you’re regarded?,” Kelly deadpanned with some sarcasm. Then he switched gears.
“Look, Lane has a positive outlook on the game, and he certainly has been a central figure in college football,” Kelly said. “He can poke fun at himself and others. I think he’s good for college football.”
Kelly is 1-1 against Kiffin as LSU’s coach with a 45-20 home win in 2022 and a 55-49 loss last season in Oxford. When Kelly was Notre Dame’s head coach and Kiffin was USC’s head coach from 2010-12, Kelly was 2-1 against him.
“We like to have fun back and forth,” Kelly said. “But at the end of the day, we’re both college football coaches that enjoy developing our teams. We went against each other when he was at USC, and I was at Notre Dame. Eventually, when we get on the field, we’re fierce competitors and want to win.”
Kiffin’s offense put up 706 yards of total offense in the win over LSU last season – the most yards allowed by a Tigers’ defense in school history. That game led to Kelly firing his entire defensive staff after last season and bringing in new defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
“Brian does a great job,” Kiffin said at his press conference Monday. “You’ve got to make hard changes to be a successful head coach. I’m sure that was challenging for him, but you have to do what’s best for the team.”
Kiffin added his familiar refrain about programs that historically attract more talent than Ole Miss, though, such as LSU, at least before NIL and the Transfer Portal.
“LSU teams, regardless of who the head coach there is, are extremely talented,” he said. “Great looking players, really explosive on offense. Got really good players that you have to go play against, and that that’s been the case for a long time.”
Be the first to comment