Lane Kiffin's LSU Move Reignites 67-Year Ole Miss Rivalry
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Sep 18
Lane Kiffin's LSU Move Reignites 67-Year Ole Miss Rivalry
3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Sep 18
Summary
Kiffin’s jump to LSU 66 days after a documentary praising Oxford reopened old wounds ahead of his return to Ole Miss, turning a once-cooled SEC feud into a fresh source of anger.
Ole Miss resentment deepened because Kiffin left after the program’s best season, took assistants, schemes and some players, and was later named in an SEC lawsuit tied to LSU’s pursuit of former Rebels.
The backlash revived a rivalry many trace to Billy Cannon’s 89-yard Halloween punt return in 1959, with fans again leaning on decades of grievance, folklore and shared Mississippi-Louisiana identity.
That history now collides with college football’s NIL era: the piece argues Kiffin’s move reflects a sport transformed by money and mobility, even as fans still treat Ole Miss-LSU as a vessel for memory, loyalty and loss.