Lane Kiffin seems to be catching heat for talking about Ole Miss again, for digging deep into one certain Ole Miss setback in his Vanity Fair interview. Peter Burns thinks it is time to move on. The prominent ESPN voice says LSU hired Kiffin to look ahead, instead of reopening old wounds.<\/p>\n
Watch What\u2019s Trending Now!<\/p>\n
\u201cI think LSU fans are starting to go like, \u2018Dude, enough is enough about this whole Ole Miss thing. Like, what are we doing?\u2019\u201d ESPN and SEC Network personality Peter Burns said via Next Round Live. \u201cThere\u2019s no value in any of this. You broke up with the girl, and now you\u2019re telling us about how the girl had all these flaws. We don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s relationship therapy right there, SEC edition. But Burns isn\u2019t wrong in his voice for the crowd because the more Lane Kiffin explains why things were difficult at Ole Miss, the more it starts sounding like unfinished business. In the Vanity Fair piece, he discussed recruiting challenges he faced in Oxford and tied some of those issues to Mississippi\u2019s racial history and perception among recruits\u2019 families.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren\u2019t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi,\u201d he recalled recruits telling him, and then added. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus\u2019s diversity feels so great: \u2018It feels like there\u2019s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that\u2019s the real world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
SEC Network\u2019s @PeterBurnsESPN<\/a> on if LSU fans are getting tired of Lane Kiffin talking about Ole Miss:<\/p>\n \u201cLane\u2019s just gonna be Lane. It\u2019s overall a great thing for us, it\u2019s a great thing for college football because college football needs characters. In Lane, you\u2019re gonna get\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/CCP0vww11f<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 All SEC Football (@allsec_fb) May 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But can we blame him for mentioning Ole Miss? Lane Kiffin later clarified and apologized if people in Mississippi felt offended.<\/p>\n \u201cI really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a four-hour interview, I was asked a lot of questions on a lot of things, and Ole Miss has been wonderful to me and to my family.\u201d<\/p>\n That probably should\u2019ve been the end of it. But instead, it reopened every bitter feeling surrounding his Ole Miss exit. Remember, Lane Kiffin wanted to coach the Rebels through the CFP before moving on to LSU, but AD Keith Carter didn\u2019t allow that. The school eventually gave control to DC Pete Golding, who later became the head coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n Longtime Ole Miss insider Neal McCready didn\u2019t hold back either<\/a>. According to him, Lane Kiffin is still angry that he never got to finish the playoff run.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLane Kiffin\u2019s trying to burn down Ole Miss because Lane Kiffin\u2019s still mad that he didn\u2019t get to coach in the playoffs,\u201d he said on the McCready & Siskey podcast.<\/p>\n Because otherwise, why keep revisiting the breakup? LSU didn\u2019t hire Lane Kiffin to win press conferences against Ole Miss fans on social media. They handed him a seven-year, $91 million contract because they believe he can drag LSU back into national title contention in Year 1. They even gave him the resources to assemble a roster valued at around $42 million<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Burns added, \u201cLike, you\u2019re here to win games. The future of LSU football starts right here, right now. Spin it forward and stop spinning it backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, the ESPN analyst made another interesting point regarding the Ole Miss-LSU rivalry.\u00a0<\/p>\n Can Lane Kiffin\u2019s LSU beat his old school?<\/p>\n From the drama to football realities, Peter Burns pointed toward LSU\u2019s brutal 2026 schedule as a reason expectations may need cooling. He recently spoke with DC Blake Baker and came away stunned by the Tigers\u2019 schedule setup. They open the season against Clemson before diving into the SEC fire with only one bye week all season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that LSU is just going to flip the switch and go 11-1 with a quarterback that didn\u2019t even completely play spring football, I think, is troubling,\u201d he further said in his appearance. \u201cI think that\u2019s part of the reason why I think even Lane (Kiffin), who can zoom out a little bit, is going, whether or not it\u2019s right that he said this, \u2018need a little patience.\u2019 I think the idea that they\u2019re just going to flip the switch and go undefeated or 11-1 isn\u2019t going to work. I would feel better that what we think Ole Miss is going to be is really what Ole Miss is going to be, which I think could be a 10-2 College Football Playoff team.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, PFSN gives Ole Miss a 44% playoff chance compared to LSU\u2019s 39%. If the Rebels actually reach the playoffs while the Tigers struggle through their schedule, nothing would shade the humiliation. Their Sept. 19 conference opener sends Lane Kiffin directly back to Oxford. An already anticipated game with a toxic touch, it might now become the most intense SEC atmosphere of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Share this with a friend:<\/p>\n