{"id":847587,"date":"2026-09-14T15:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T15:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/847587\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T15:08:16","slug":"lane-kiffins-bitter-divorce-with-ole-miss-reopened-old-wounds-he-returns-this-weekend-as-public-enemy-no-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/847587\/","title":{"rendered":"Lane Kiffin\u2019s bitter divorce with Ole Miss reopened old wounds. He returns this weekend as Public Enemy No. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      Oxford, Mississippi\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho00063b6rqcwpwhki@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The Library Sports Bar is everything a college bar should be. Old, battered stools stand alongside a weathered wood bar. Stickers celebrating bygone 21st birthdays cover the walls outside the bathrooms. The barroom gives way to the Boom Boom room (for bands), which leads to the patio, all designed for mobs of undergrads who want cheap drinks and a place to hang.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho00073b6rpqqoy7q0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In 1997, John Desler, a former Ole Miss defensive back, and his wife, Leelee, bought the guts of the place from James Purvis, proprietor of Purvis Pool Hall and the town\u2019s most renowned bookie. The Deslers slowly expanded The Library, eventually stretching its reach down nearly the entire block.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho00083b6rhm8qbll5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It was Leelee who decided to hang the flags out front, one for each of the Rebels\u2019 football opponents. Every time Ole Miss won, she decided, she\u2019d replace the opposing colors with a red flag that read, \u201cRebels Take the Win.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho00093b6rln0hwncz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Last season, all but one of the opponents\u2019 banners disappeared. Eventually, 13 \u201cRebels Take the Win\u201d flags fluttered down Van Buren Avenue, a visual affirmation of the best season here since Archie Manning was the biggest man on campus.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000a3b6rugxq17d4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On this, the last Sunday afternoon before football returns to Oxford, the 2026 season flags stand at the ready as Elizabeth Heiskell ducks into The Library.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000b3b6r85qin0o5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI cannot wait to take that LSU flag down,\u201d she says to everyone and no one in particular. \u201cI mean, we\u2019re all over it, but we want that win.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000c3b6r2okjx4yp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Heiskell was born and raised in the Delta, the northwest section of the state often called the most Southern place on Earth. She attended Mississippi State, but wound up living in Oxford when her husband, Luke, had the harebrained idea to start a vegetable farm outside of town. Heiskell went from delivering vegetables to restaurants in a beat-up, old prison van with no air conditioning to the preeminent caterer in town, author of three cookbooks and a regular contributor to the \u201cToday\u201d show.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000d3b6r1r0war96@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Her time in Oxford also shifted her loyalties. She is now as fierce an Ole Miss fan as you\u2019ll find. She has a regular spot reserved in the Grove and closes texts with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/olemiss.edu\/athletics\/what-is-hotty-toddy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Hotty Toddy<\/a>.\u201d Both a Southern charmer and a Southern spitfire, she peppers her yarns with smirks and eye rolls and is unabashed about both possessing and sharing her strong opinions.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000e3b6rw2cyshcb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A year ago, her Rebel devotion and outspokenness got her into a little hot water. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/09\/03\/sport\/sec-sues-lsu-lane-kiffin\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">football coach Lane Kiffin<\/a> dithered about abandoning Ole Miss for LSU, Heiskell declared she would run \u201cnekkid\u201d around the Oxford square if Kiffin bolted. Heiskell\u2019s vow went viral and she wound up discussing her proclamation live on \u201cThe Paul Finebaum Show\u201d during the SEC Championship.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000f3b6rb2e594sp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Of course, Kiffin left, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/12\/01\/sport\/ncaa-football-lane-kiffin-lsu-mississippi-analysis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a bitter and acrimonious separation<\/a> that played out over 14 agonizing days, just as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/11\/28\/sport\/football-ncaa-lane-kiffin-future\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rebels prepped for their first<\/a> College Football Playoff game in history.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooho000g3b6rxcau6bwh@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Heiskell kept her clothes on. She did not and has not, however, kept her mouth shut. Sitting later at a quiet table in the back of Saint Leo\u2019s, an Italian spot on the Oxford Square, she is asked to explain the vitriol directed at Kiffin. She gives one of her smirks.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000h3b6rdvhw1dl0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWell, he\u2019s an immoral, son of a b*tch whore,\u201d she says and then pauses. \u201cWell, maybe leave the whore out.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000j3b6rwqyvascl@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The Grove is quiet on a Monday afternoon, the tree-covered acreage at the center of the Ole Miss campus looking like little more than a nice place to catch some shade from the omnipresent heat.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000k3b6rllq8qr8x@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt will be a war zone.\u201d That\u2019s what Russ Eddins, sports editor of the student newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, predicts the tailgating epicenter will feel like this Saturday, when Kiffin returns to town. So worried is the Oxford-born senior he has suggested that his family, who still live on the outskirts of the city, not come.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000l3b6r09x6ybqc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The setup is, to Eddins\u2019 point, ripe for catastrophe. ESPN has slated kickoff for 6:30 p.m. local time and will bring their flagship college football program \u201cCollege GameDay\u201d to campus. Whatever lather the pre-game show doesn\u2019t create, the hours\u2019 worth of day drinking undoubtedly will.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-2252901969.jpg\" alt=\"A general view of the inside of the stadium in the game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Ole Miss Rebels during the 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on December 20, 2025 in Oxford, Mississippi.\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2929\" width=\"4401\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000m3b6rwsi1lmo6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Rick Cleveland first started covering Ole Miss football in 1981 as the team\u2019s beat writer for the Clarion Ledger in Jackson. Now 73 and working for Mississippi Today, he is frankly surprised the Kiffin-Ole Miss partnership lasted as long as it did. He figured the coach, who has made a career out of chronically looking for his next move, would have left for another job long before he eventually did. Cleveland, in fact, is quick to remind folks that before he left for Baton Rouge, Kiffin also petitioned for the open jobs at Miami, Auburn and Florida.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000n3b6r6uqj1be7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Cleveland also presumed rightly that Kiffin\u2019s professional wandering eye meant the pairing was destined for a bad ending. But even he is surprised at the level of venom. Despite decades of watching Ole Miss game, he can\u2019t come up with a comparison to what the atmosphere might be like.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000o3b6rjt2u7jg1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI\u2019ve seen much lesser situations where liquor bottles and beer cans have been thrown on the field,\u201d he said. \u201cThis could get ugly.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000p3b6rdheuve9u@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In her bright office a few blocks away from the Grove, Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill says she\u2019s hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. The \u201cMama Mayor,\u201d as she likes to call herself, is counting on her flock to mind their P\u2019s and Q\u2019s.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000q3b6rdcx8xaaj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI think this will be,\u201d she says, pausing to choose her words carefully, \u201ca very spirited, heated game. I think the Rebels are prepared and the city of Oxford is prepared and I think we\u2019ll send Lane Kiffin home with a frown on his face and an L on his schedule.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000r3b6r7tq7chwg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That said, Tannehill does mention that the New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, mounted police have volunteered their assistance to monitor crowd control.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000t3b6r873o014c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Hell hath no fury like a football fan scorned, and Kiffin\u2019s messy exodus from the school he raised into a playoff contender is about as bad a divorce as you\u2019ll find in recent memory. Rick Pitino returned to Kentucky as the head coach for rival Louisville but that was after a four-year detour in the NBA. Nick Saban did a similar U-turn, going back to LSU as the Alabama head coach after a crash and burn in the NFL.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000u3b6r0mqw16d5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Even Ole Miss has been through this before. In 1998, Tommy Tuberville took the Rebels to their first bowl game since 1992 and, after promising he would only leave town in a pine box, turned tail two days later for Auburn. After Tuberville left, bookstores sold \u201cLiar, Liar\u201d T-shirts with his face plastered alongside the messaging.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000v3b6rkaldcg5t@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But no one left quite like Kiffin. He held clandestine conversations with LSU but kept coaching Ole Miss. Mississippi administrators insisted he choose. The Louisiana governor got involved, and Kiffin finally opted for LSU less than a month before the Rebels\u2019 playoff game against Tulane.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohp000w3b6rd8847vki@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            After agreeing to the new gig, Kiffin said he wanted to stay for the postseason but Ole Miss, rightly guessing that he also would be working to pilfer their players through the transfer portal, showed him the door.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq000x3b6rgfa44gyk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The school <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/07\/22\/sport\/ole-miss-pete-golding-sec-media-days\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding<\/a> to head coach. Several assistant coaches who planned to go with Kiffin to LSU stayed on with the Rebels and commuted back and forth. They beat Tulane in the first round and upset Georgia in the quarters. But by the semis against Miami, Kiffin had called two of them back to Baton Rouge.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/kc-finebaum.jpg\" alt=\"KC Finebaum.jpg\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1080\" width=\"1920\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Finebaum: Lane Kiffin&#8217;s shocking jump to LSU &#8216;chaotic&#8217; and &#8216;Shakespearean&#8217;\n                <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/kc-finebaum.jpg&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\" alt=\"KC Finebaum.jpg\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1080\" width=\"1920\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Finebaum: Lane Kiffin&#8217;s shocking jump to LSU &#8216;chaotic&#8217; and &#8216;Shakespearean&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>        4:43<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq000y3b6reojn9si5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/sport\/live-news\/football-cfp-semifinals-miami-ole-miss\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ole Miss lost to Miami<\/a>. Eight days later, four players followed Kiffin to Baton Rouge.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq000z3b6rzhkwc9lx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWhen you leave your team as it\u2019s headed to the playoff for the first time in school history, that\u2019s the kind of thing that will be on your tombstone,\u201d Cleveland said. \u201cThat\u2019s always going to be on his resume.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00103b6ra32mym9b@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Instead of venting their fury on a T-shirt, locals first chased him to the airport with everything short of pitchforks and have since spilled all sorts of tea in John Talty\u2019s tell-all book, \u201cLane Being Lane.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00113b6ry0owbi7k@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            From the outside, it all looked slightly over the top. Kiffin is, after all, just a football coach. But to understand the level of hurt he put on the community, you have to understand the history.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00123b6r2hskzk48@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Fans aren\u2019t just bitter that he left; they\u2019re angry he made them feel inferior, furious at the digs he took on the way out and really miffed that he left for their rival.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00133b6re9ag9yy8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cTuberville left in the dark of night, literally, and people very much resented that,\u201d says Tannehill, an Ole Miss graduate whose husband, Rhea, served as president of the student body. \u201cBut he didn\u2019t leave tossing grenades back at the community.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00153b6ruj4wi36g@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            As Heiskell steers her black Audi SUV around campus for a drive-by tour, she rounds the corner in front of the Lyceum, home to the university chancellor and the first original building on campus. From the front passenger seat, Heiskell\u2019s event coordinator, Sarah Virden, leans back and casually but candidly adds, \u201cAnd you know, of course, about the bullet hole.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00163b6rpx5bsijh@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On September 30, 1962, segregationist protestors rioted on campus, as Black student James Meredith attempted to enroll. The foment started the day before inside the football stadium. During halftime of the Ole Miss-Kentucky game, then-Gov. Ross Barnett grabbed the microphone and screamed to an all-White crowd, many waving Confederate flags and singing along to the marching band\u2019s rendition of Dixie, \u201cI love Mississippi! I love her people! Our costumes! I love and respect our heritage.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00173b6ryk3ew3g9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Spurred by Barnett\u2019s defiant message and federal officers\u2019 arrival to escort Meredith, a mob of some 2,000 swelled by morning. Students drove around campus shouting, \u201cHotty Toddy! Gosh Almighty! Who the hell are we? Flim-flam, bim-bam, White folks by damn!\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00183b6rcg9ubai7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            By nightfall, the protests turned violent, people hurling bricks and taking down the American flag in favor of the Confederate colors. Two people were killed after protestors exchanged gunfire with federal officers, one of the bullets taking up permanent residence in the Lyceum doorframe.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-515449784.jpg\" alt=\"Confederate flags wave behind then Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett as he yells along with the rest of the crowd as the Rebels defeat Houston University, in Jackson, Mississippi.\" class=\"image_expandable__dam-img image_expandable__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_expandable__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2130\" width=\"3195\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-514694788.jpg\" alt=\"James Meredith walks across the University of Mississippi campus after class amid the stares and jeers of fellow students. Meredith was the first African American student at \" ole=\"\" miss.=\"\" class=\"image_expandable__dam-img image_expandable__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_expandable__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2093\" width=\"3139\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq00193b6r869e7a1d@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That fall, the Rebels would finish 10-0, topped Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl and claim a share of the national championship. A year later, they won the last of their SEC Championships before falling into a pattern of mediocrity only temporarily paused with the arrival of Archie Manning in 1968.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq001a3b6rbd7p4t9e@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The school\u2019s slow acceptance of integration \u2013 it did not roster a Black player until 1972 \u2013 coupled with its resistance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/04\/17\/us\/fraternity-closes-ole-miss-chapter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to fully divest from its offensive<\/a> traditions took a toll on its football success. Ole Miss didn\u2019t ban Confederate flags at football games until 1997. Colonel Reb, the school\u2019s Confederate homage of a mascot, was not replaced until 2003 and there was significant resistance to that move. Finally in 2016, the last strains of \u201cDixie\u201d were finally played inside the stadium.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohq001b3b6ro1dk9tz1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Along the way, Ole Miss became well known for a few things related to football \u2013 the Grove\u2019s tailgating scene and the movie \u201cThe Blind Side\u201d about the life of former offensive lineman Michael Oher \u2013 but not the one thing that matters most in football.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001c3b6rl75h7sx2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Winning.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001d3b6rq59uz3wf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That is, if you will, the epidermis of this hurt, the outer but very sensitive layer of it all. In his six-year tenure, Kiffin won 55 games. In the nine years previously, they won 56 combined.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001e3b6rbzop7x7k@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            He made the Rebels relevant and, in return, the Ole Miss community made him palatable.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001f3b6ri5elgrid@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Kiffin arrived in town with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NextRoundLive\/status\/1954942967585866189\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a drinking problem<\/a> and a reputation for drama. A short stay in the NFL ended with Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis calling his old coach a \u201cflat-out liar.\u201d Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton, who hired Kiffin off the garbage pile only to see him exit after one season, deadpanned that the coach\u2019s stay there was \u201cbrief.\u201d He left the Volunteers for USC, but lasted only three years before being fired on the LAX tarmac upon a pantsing at the hands of Arizona State.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001g3b6rw08eztnb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Resuscitated by Saban as Alabama\u2019s offensive coordinator, he irked the legendary coach so badly by accepting a job at Florida Atlantic that Saban canned him a week before the 2017 national championship game.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001h3b6riadvalqn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But he won at FAU, turning an outpost into a conference champion in two of his three seasons, making him hard to ignore. Kiffin could coach and two teams so in need of repair \u2013 Ole Miss and Arkansas \u2013 were willing to help him pack the baggage he invariably brought with him. Kiffin opted for the Rebels, and after two years in town, Kiffin waxed poetic about how Oxford had saved him.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001i3b6rhgd0mh2l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI think I needed Oxford and Ole Miss more than they needed me,\u201d he told ESPN.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/kiffinlsuthumb.jpg\" alt=\"KiffinLSUThumb.jpg\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1920\" width=\"1080\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for reported $100M LSU contract\n                <\/p>\n<p>Lane Kiffin announced Sunday he will leave Ole Miss to coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a Southeastern Conference (SEC)-foe. CNN\u2019s Carolyn Manno reports on the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d Kiffin says he made.<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" height=\"undefined\" width=\"526\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789398495_259_kiffinlsuthumb.jpg\" alt=\"\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for reported $100M LSU contract<\/p>\n<p>        1:00<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001j3b6rk54yy65q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            He had lost weight, stopped drinking and discovered hot yoga. He reconnected his family \u2013 his ex-wife, Layla, moving to town to be with their two youngest kids (their eldest was a student at USC). He even admitted to watching The Notebook.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001k3b6rajvcud2o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            He was not entirely a new Lane. He still loved to instigate, happily trolling coaches on X, but after years of dormancy, the swagger was welcome in Mississippi. \u201cCome to the Sip\u201d shirts and signs popped up everywhere.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001l3b6r87e9jc7l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cHe had the ability to kind of draw the fanbase in,\u201d Eddins says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say charming, but he was so in touch with the fans. Everything was just so much more fun.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001m3b6rzbubjvrs@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Especially the winning. After an initial 5-5 season, the Rebels won 10 games, went to the Sugar Bowl and finished in the top 25 for the first time since 2015. Four more bowl games followed, with regular spots in the rankings. If he made it a little too much about him, well, a narcissist can no more avoid staring at his reflection than a leopard can change his spots.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001n3b6rf9daxbjm@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But he was their narcissist. Fans loved him, and they thought he loved them right back.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohr001o3b6reygczlth@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe did nothing but support him, lift him up and love his children,\u201d Heiskell says. \u201cI mean, I took casseroles when his mama and daddy died. And then he up and left and we were like, \u2018Why? What more could you want?\u2019\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001q3b6r10eq27o0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Had it ended there, had he skulked off to LSU, it would have been bad. But in May, after the dust largely had settled, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/story\/lane-kiffin-explains-himself\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vanity Fair published a profile of Kiffin<\/a>. In an effort to explain away his decision, Kiffin reintroduced old ghosts. He told the magazine that recruits wouldn\u2019t come to Mississippi, but they had no issue with Louisiana.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001r3b6rwtq0n8is@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cParents are sitting here this weekend saying the campus\u2019 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 Kiffin told Vanity Fair.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001s3b6r7r4zjvbg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThat is not who Oxford is, and he knows that,\u201d Tannehill said. \u201cTo degrade our community, absolutely it hurt. The Oxford of today is not the Oxford of 60 years ago.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001t3b6rbvcf2zmm@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Tannehill, now in her third term, has overseen a boon in town. Cranes dot the landscape as more and more townhomes and developments take shape. They bring their own set of problems. Tannehill thinks more about water supply and sewage than she ever thought she might, and locals fret that the escalating costs ultimately will price them out.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001u3b6rllcfq4dq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But the best small college town in America, as decided this year by USA Today, is a vibrant community with old-city charms and modern appeal. Along with frequenting the 187-year-old Neilson\u2019s department store, visitors can eat in one of four Michelin recommended restaurants.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001v3b6rdmly1ly7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Like a lot of SEC schools in recent years, the university has worked to change its academic profile by luring out-of-state students. Ole Miss offers scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 for non-resident students based on a sliding scale of combined GPA and test scores, and its student population reflects the recruitment. More than 50 percent of its students now come from out of state.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001w3b6rlz2ry2vx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It is not perfect. The demographics still tilt White \u2013 70 percent of the undergrad population compared to 24 percent Black students (for what it\u2019s worth, LSU is 56 percent to 19 percent) \u2013 and as recently as 2014, three fraternity brothers were charged after hanging a noose around the Meredith statue that stands outside of the Lyceum.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ap270759501315.jpg\" alt=\"A statue of James Meredith sits on the Ole Miss Campus at Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4473\" width=\"2982\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001x3b6r7v7c713c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But Oxford and Ole Miss neither defend nor hide from their past. Eddins says freshmen learn about the school\u2019s history with all its warts in orientation, and the school\u2019s website addresses it directly.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001y3b6rgbwis4bx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cPainful memories of segregation live within our campus and should not be forgotten,\u201d it reads.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohs001z3b6r12sz6y3c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWhat Kiffin said, it\u2019s just not really how it is,\u201d Eddins said. \u201cAnd those comments aren\u2019t going to be forgotten. I mean, I\u2019m from here. I know I won\u2019t forget.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00213b6ruv2dr1gw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Billy Abb Cannon was born in what was then called Harmanuel, Mississippi, a post office community in the northwest corner of the state that is now a proper ghost town. A 1959 story in the Clarion Ledger says his mother, Virgie, so badly wanted a girl she had no name picked out for a boy. Cannon\u2019s father, Harvey, selected the middle name in honor of a local mill owner, Abb DeWeese.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00223b6r7cm485bd@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Post World War II, the farming communities in the Piney Woods areas were dying out and, seeking better work, Harvey moved his family out of Mississippi. After a stopover in Memphis, they eventually settled in Baton Rouge.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00233b6rgxjav94j@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Billy Cannon went on to become an All-American high school halfback there, and when it came to choosing a college, the proximity to his new home plus the promise of a between-semester job at a local dealership pointed Cannon away from favored Ole Miss to LSU.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00243b6rk3ck2l11@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            There is still an abyss in my gut, from Halloween night 1959 \u2013 the night, according to the Mississippi River lore, when there arose the great Tiger Stadium roar that has not ceased since. It was the night of Billy Cannon\u2019s Run, the 89-yard punt return that many still call the greatest ever in football. I was for the losing side.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00253b6rqyzfg7qn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Ed Hinton penned those words some four decades after the third-ranked Rebels lost, 7-3, to No. 1 LSU. That\u2019s how deep the wound cut; that\u2019s also why Kiffin leaving for LSU stung as much as it did.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00263b6rv9kuesu6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Ole Miss and Mississippi State play for the Golden Egg every year; the Rebels and Tigers play for blood. In 2008, the two student bodies voted to name the rivalry game the Magnolia Bowl; it is not nearly so refined.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00273b6r0mhwdzsg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe only time I could cuss was when I said, \u2018Go to hell, LSU,\u2019\u201d said Virden, Heiskell\u2019s event coordinator, referring to the chant Rebel fans scream during the national anthem \u2013 against any and every opponent.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00283b6rb43y1hjs@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The two schools started playing one another in 1894 \u2013 actually seven years before the game against Mississippi State got its start \u2013 and, fueled by proximity and excellence, roared through the \u201850s, \u201860s and \u201870s with meaningful games.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht00293b6r2a6au08o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Doug Moreau caught a two-point conversion to seal an LSU win in 1964, and Archie Manning engineered two Ole Miss comebacks in 1968 and 1969. Ole Miss fans will angrily tell you about the \u201cNight the Clock Stopped,\u201d when LSU\u2019s Bert Jones threw an incomplete pass with four seconds left, seemingly ending the game. Except the clock showed one second remaining. Running back Brad Davis pulled down a one-handed catch and the Tigers remained undefeated.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht002a3b6r8lvgu92g@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Cannon\u2019s run remains the high or low point, depending on your school allegiance. It\u2019s a burr dug even deeper in the side of Ole Miss fans after Cannon, an LSU player, became the first \u2013 and still only \u2013 Mississippian to win the Heisman Trophy.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpooht002b3b6rrxigxb67@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cSo much of Ole Miss\u2019 disdain goes back to that game, but every year it was one of the biggest games in the country. Not just in the South or the Deep South, in the country,\u201d Cleveland said. \u201cIt meant something all the time.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002c3b6rt04zgwg3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The rivalry started to turn one sided after Manning left and really tipped with the arrival of Nick Saban at LSU in 2000, followed by Les Miles. The Tigers grew into a national power as Ole Miss bumbled through various coaches and an NCAA quagmire brought on by Hugh Freeze. The Tigers won 16 of 21, including five in a row from 2016 to 2020.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ap26256192658309.jpg\" alt=\"Kiffin's switch to LSU has caused a lot of hurt in Oxford.\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3435\" width=\"4907\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002d3b6rajd7z98q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It finally ended on October 23, 2021, in Kiffin\u2019s second year. Ever since, the two teams have swapped victories each season, with Kiffin stoking the flames. Faithful to his social media trolling, the coach especially enjoyed zinging LSU and Brian Kelly.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002e3b6r0ulmoykd@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Thirty minutes after the No. 13 Rebels upset No. 4 LSU, 24-19, last year, Kiffin tweeted a picture of a quote from Kelly that read in part, \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep that Magnolia Trophy right here in Baton Rouge right where it deserves to be.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002f3b6rrtvc0hhf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            And his dog, Juice, \u201ctweeted\u201d a picture of a white hat with Rebel blue and red lettering that read, \u201cBrian Kelly can\u2019t run the damn ball.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002g3b6rm0yiy6c7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A little more than two months later, Kiffin took his job.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002h3b6rfabncyuo@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cLane took this program to the cusp of what they\u2019ve been trying to do for so long, and then he left for their archrival,\u201d Cleveland says. \u201cPeople really believed in him. They really believed him, and turns out, he just had everybody snowed.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002j3b6r6iu9yvkg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Heiskell will host a brunch at her home the morning of the LSU game. Later, she\u2019ll take up her familiar spot in the Grove. She will be there, she says, to support \u201cthe boys,\u201d as she calls her Ole Miss players.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002k3b6r7wbe92va@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Even absent the mayhem, this is a big football game. Both teams have legitimate national championship aspirations. The Rebels have two Heisman Trophy candidates in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy (hence the political campaign-esque \u201cTrinidad\/Kewan\u201d signs all over town), and LSU boasts one of the nation\u2019s best defenses.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohu002l3b6rdi3jz0ao@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The SEC has not won a national title in three years, ceding control to the Big Ten. The league currently has six teams sitting in the top 10 (Texas, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&amp;M and Alabama). Ole Miss will play three of them this season.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohv002m3b6rwqsy84wv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI mean, LSU is one game,\u201d Heiskell said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at a full season. We\u2019re looking at a national playoff. We\u2019re looking at a Heisman Trophy winner. People outside, all over the land, they\u2019re concerned with the drama and that\u2019s fine. So sure, come to town. Spend a ton of money with us, rent out our hotels and fill our bars. But we\u2019ve got bigger things on our minds than just beating LSU.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohv002n3b6rzuofv7i2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Except.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohv002o3b6r9jjsw99e@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            As she considers what it will be like to remove that flag from the lineup outside The Library, Heiskell throws open the door to the bar. The woman whose Instagram handle is \u201cDebutante Farmer\u201d then adds an exclamation point to her declaration.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmtzpoohv002p3b6rb2k57oxx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cF**k yeah!\u201d she yells, and the door slams shut behind her.\n    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oxford, Mississippi\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 The Library Sports Bar is everything a college bar should be. Old, battered stools stand alongside&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-847587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}