Why Lane Kiffin’s Return To Ole Miss Will Be Anything But Ordinary

Chris Petersen didn’t mince words when asked what it was like the first time he took his new team back to play his old one. "It was the worst," Petersen told me. In 2015, Petersen's second season at Washington, the Huskies traveled to Boise State to square off against the program he had spent more than a decade building into a national powerhouse. The trip to the blue turf came in the opening week of the season, and the Broncos denied their ex-coach a victory, beating the Huskies, 16-13. "We had recruited probably 90% of those players over there," said Petersen. "This was pre-transfer [portal] and so we didn’t bring one kid with us. I’m looking at that sideline and knowing these are all the guys that we left there and that was one of the hardest things that you ever had to do. "The other thing was, I had such an affinity for that place. It was really, really hard. Like, one of my least favorite games to have to ever compete in." On Saturday, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin will experience some semblance of that when he leads the No. 7-ranked Tigers into Oxford to battle No. 8 Ole Miss, where he spent six seasons guiding the Rebels to unprecedented heights. Kiffin famously spurned his former team late last season, leaving for LSU just before Ole Miss made its College Football Playoff debut — a decision that infuriated Rebels fans and players alike. College football rivalries are part of what make this sport so great, one of the things that sets it apart from others. This matchup, though not a traditional rivalry, figures to be every bit as heated and contentious given the circumstances. It will stir up plenty of emotions. Pundits have likened it to bringing your new love back to meet your old flame. "The good thing for Lane is he’s getting this thing over fast — it’s not next year, it’s not later this season, he’s getting it done now," Petersen told me, noting he had to wait a year and a half to face Boise State, while Kiffin will go to Oxford less than 10 months after his messy exit. "He’s going to have to go out on the field late and get off the field right away," Petersen added with a chuckle. "Though, you know, kind of knowing Lane, he’ll probably be out there talking to fans and stirring it up." While the conditions surrounding Kiffin’s return are certainly unusual, he is hardly the first coach to find himself in this position. Nick Saban clashed with LSU multiple times as Alabama’s head coach, while Steve Spurrier took South Carolina back to Gainesville to play Florida. Sonny Dykes went to SMU with TCU, and Dan Mullen met his old program when Florida traveled to Mississippi State. Those are just a handful of examples. It’s an awkward situation, but one that is bound to happen from time to time in sports. Saban, who coached at LSU from 2000-04 and won a national championship there, talked about his highly-anticipated return to Baton Rouge in 2008 during SEC media days this past summer. He said it was "one of the most difficult homecomings in the history of ball" and tried to prepare his players accordingly. "I always walk on the field two hours before the game and there’s usually nobody in the stadium," Saban told the SEC Network. "The student section is already full and they are chanting some bad things at Nick Saban. "But the one thing that I think people underestimate is, when your players are with you and they understand the challenge, they look at it as a challenge. And sometimes the home team thinks this is going to be an advantage for us, and it really isn’t. We won that game in overtime [27-21] because of the great competitive disposition our team took into that game." Kiffin, though, is something of a veteran when it comes to this particular predicament. He’s already been in this position a couple of times in his career. In 2014, Kiffin returned to Tennessee — where he coached for one season in 2009 before leaving for USC — as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. It was a hostile environment, with Volunteers fans still harboring resentment toward Kiffin years after his abrupt departure. On the first play of the game, former Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper caught an 80-yard touchdown pass, and Kiffin ran down the sideline celebrating as Alabama went on to win, 34-20. Years later, when Kiffin brought the Rebels to Neyland Stadium in 2021, the bad blood was still there. After Ole Miss beat Tennessee 31-26, fans chucked golf balls and other objects at him. During his news conference on Monday, Kiffin was asked what he and his Tigers might face Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. He knows the pregame chatter will center around him, and he doesn’t mind carrying that burden. "I told the players today, ‘Man, you don’t have anything to worry about as far as attention on you all week and everything,’" Kiffin said. '"There’s going to be so much attention, hatred, everything on me. You just get to go play.' "The pressure is on them. We won seven games last year, they won 13. They return two Heisman candidates. How often does that happen in the same backfield? We had that [at USC] with Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush … The pressure is not on you." Even so, emotions will be running high. Petersen remembers the bizarre experience of landing at the airport, staying at the opposing team’s hotel and then pulling up to the stadium where he was greeted by a sea of Boise State fans dressed in blue and orange. Kiffin could very well encounter a similar sense of déjà vu, especially if he stops at any of his favorite haunts or takes a yoga class at his old studio. "It was a really different feeling because they’re all against you now, and it was never like that before," Petersen said. "It was like, man, this is surreal." Not to mention, Kiffin will be facing some former players, including star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, both of whom he hoped would follow him to Baton Rouge. Kiffin brought only four players with him from Ole Miss to LSU, including starting defensive end Princewill Umanmielen and linebacker TJ Dottery, along with 12 members of his coaching staff. "I think that’s going to be really hard on him because there are a lot of kids there that I’m sure he still cares about," Petersen said of Kiffin. "There’s probably still coaches on the staff. The administration was great to him when he was there, and so he made a choice, and now he’s gotta walk right back into the hornet’s nest. "He’s just going to have to focus on this game, his team playing well, get in and out, and try to minimize the emotion and the drama as much as you can. But in some ways, Lane seems like he thrives on a lot of drama and chaos. So this may help him and his team compete better." What can also help? Something Petersen’s team didn’t do. "The thing that will make this the most tolerable," Petersen said, "is if your team goes out and plays well and wins the game."