Lane Kiffin didn’t receive any form of a warm welcome back to Oxford on Saturday, but he still felt some sentimental emotions while getting ready for the game.
After spending six years as head coach at Ole Miss, Kiffin explained that he was somewhat surprised to feel that way upon heading into the stadium.
While speaking with media after the game, Kiffin dove into why Oxford continues to be such a special place for him despite everything that has happened.
I’m sure I’ll be criticized for saying that, but yeah, I am,” Lane Kiffin said. “I was thinking that all week, especially today, and I would have said that in a win or a loss. You know, that was really emotional driving in on the buses for a lot of reasons. And I’m not saying this because I would have said this anyway since you asked. It was just really a lot of emotions of gratefulness for this place and for the six years. It went well beyond football.
Surprised to be emotional in such a manner, Kiffin elaborated on how the off-field improvements he made while in Mississippi are what he remembers the most about coaching there.
There’s a lot of stuff [in] six years here, and a lot of things and a lot of life-changing experiences and a lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times,” Kiffin said. “I just thought I would probably be more in, like, the competitive mode and just kind of embrace it. I don’t know. Sometimes you can’t predict your emotions. I know that sometimes I don’t act like it, but I’m a human too, you know.
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Parker is currently the sports editor for Gulf Coast Media in Foley, Alabama. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
