The Mississippi Department of Public Safety is denying an allegation from former Mississippi football coach Lane Kiffin that he was being run ‘off the road’ by angry Ole Miss fans after he decided to leave for LSU.
According to Mississippi Today, a spokesperson from the department said the office has no evidence or record of Kiffin’s claim — which he made in his opening news conference at LSU on Monday, Dec. 1 — and that he received a safety escort from the Mississippi Highway Patrol to the Oxford airport to leave on a plane for Baton Rouge on Sunday, Nov. 30.
Sean Tindell, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, confirmed Kiffin was given a safety escort in a humorous video the department posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Dec. 2.
‘Call a cop that you know so they’ll help you,’ Kiffin said on Dec. 1. ‘Because you personally know them because you are leaving the state. And you gotta turn around, and people are screaming at you, you know, trying to run you off the road I don’t know what they’re gonna do.
‘And so that. … That affects you. And that airport scene, and all the things being said, I understand that. It’s the passion. But they’re saying that about you, that you thought you did a really good job for six years for them. And that affects you. And even on the plane down there I’m kind of like ‘yeah we made this decision but like, god I really…’ You know?’
The Mississippi Highway Patrol isn’t the only agency denying Kiffin’s account of his Ole Miss exit. Rebels athletic director Keith Carter said in a radio interview with SuperTalk Mississippi there are ‘a lot of things’ Kiffin has ‘said publicly that I’m not sure have been totally accurate.’
Moreover, several members of Ole Miss’ leadership team have gone on X to dispute Kiffin’s claim that Ole Miss players asked Carter to allow Kiffin to ‘keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.’
Kiffin officially announced his move within the SEC from Ole Miss to LSU on Nov. 30, two days after the Rebels picked up their first 11-win season in program history off a win in the Egg Bowl. He went 55-19 in his six seasons at Ole Miss.
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