I’ve got more than a few semi-favorite college football teams, if for no other reason than I’m an alumnus of a school that lacked one. The last time SUNY Oswego even fielded a club team was 1976-77, otherwise known as the one just before I got there. They probably saw me coming and reacted accordingly.
But at least I developed an unhealthy attachment for nearby Syracuse University, not that you’ve heard much from me about them this year in the wake of a disastorous 3-9 season that included the worst-ever loss in their storied history, a 70-0 embarassment at the hands of Notre Dame. And along the way I’ve developed an affinity for UCLA, who employed me as an instructor for eight years, and the University of Miami, who did so for two even more memorable ones. And because of my more passionate college football-loving friends, including some truly special ones, you can add Florida, Georgia, USC, West Virginia and most of all Oregon to those you’d find on my “favorites” list on any app that allows one to identify that.
As of this month, I’m adding the University of Mississippi, aka Ole Miss, to that list. In spite of the fact not only do I not have any personal connection to it, I’ve never even set foot in the state–and it’s not exactly tops on my bucket list to be changed in the next several decades.
Because while I may choose to root for teams with some sort of personal connection, my strongest connection is that to those who have done all they could and then some to keep things together only to eventually learn it’s never enough to keep it that way. Pretty much my lifescript.
The Rebels, as I’m sure you know, will be headed to the College Football Playoffs without the coach that brought them to the dance. Lane Kiffin was introduced yesterday as the HC of LSU as a living embodiment to the degree of addiction and greed that has permeated Louisiana sports and politics since the days of Huey Long. The very same school that was castigated by its governor for wasting $54 million on Brian Kelly and casting him aside after suffering the ignominy of a .706 winning percentage just laid down this heavy a bet on Kiffin, per BLEACHER REPORT AM’s newsletter that dropped this morning:
Money specifics:
➤ 7 years, $91M. $13M per year, which is tied for highest in CFB.
➤ If he wins a title, LSU has to make him the highest-paid HC.
➤ His buyout is 80% of remaining money, even if he gets a new job.
➤ LSU will also honor his postseason incentives at OIe Miss .So, if Ole Miss wins a title this year, Lane gets $1M.
But wait, there’s more, as the site’s Doric Sam reported yesterday:
After hiring Lane Kiffin as head coach on Sunday, LSU is reportedly ready to spend big to help him create the roster he needs to help the program be successful.
Wilson Alexander of The Advocate in Baton Rouge reported that sources said that LSU “has also prepared to commit $25-30 million annually for Kiffin’s roster through revenue sharing and name, image and likeness funds.”
The financial commitment LSU reportedly has prepared for Kiffin is a major jump from what the university provided under former head coach Brian Kelly, as Alexander noted that it “spent about $18 million on the roster this season.”
The next time you visit New Orleans and feel the unease that I have and see first hand why it has the third highest per-capita crime rate of any state in the country, you might want to look at those numbers that now seem OK and wonder how even a fraction of it might have been put to better use.
And when one learns that the whole reason this soap opera played out was because Kiffin apparently threw a hissy fit after accepting this grift and the flagellation of frustrated LSU AD Verge Ausberry–perhaps demonstrating he took one too many hits as a Bayou Bengal linebacker in the day and actually demanded that Ole Miss allow him to stay as their coach for the playoffs. “For the kids’ sake”, of course.
The reaction of the school to this demand was absolutely priceless. PEOPLE’s Sean Neumann described a tamer one:
A photo posted to social media and reshared on the likes of SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt on Sunday, Nov. 30 claims to show a clothes rack belonging to Kiffin, 50, that was left out on the street outside an Ole Miss athletic department facility. The photo was posted just hours after the head football coach announced he was leaving the school in order to join its rival Louisiana State University as their new head coach for next season.
And then there was this only slightly more unsettling reaction which NEWSWEEK’s Andrew McCarty reported Kiffin threw out as a somewhat misguided plea for sympathy during yesterday’s coronation:
In an introductory press conference, Kiffin claims Ole Miss fans attempted to run him off the road while he was on the way to the airport to leave for his new job.
“I think that people get really upset when you leave somewhere because they feel hurt because you’re doing a really good job,” Kiffin said. “They ain’t going to the airport and driving from all over to say those things and yell those things and try to run you off the road if you were doing bad.”
Well, Lane, you did piss off a state that’s historically been known for lynchings. I’d say you got off fairly easily.
Let’s just say I can identify with that kind of frustration netter than most. And may I also remind Kiffin that for as much as he may want to fall for the fealty that darn near defines Louisiana these days he didn’t play a down of football that got the Rebels to their first-ever post-season football tournament.
Now the reality check, which apparently took the combined efforts of the ATHLETIC’s Ralph D. Russo, Justin Williams, Antonio Morales and Christopher Kamrani to piece together yesterday:
Simply put, Kiffin leaving should have no effect on how the selection committee evaluates Ole Miss, which will move forward under defensive coordinator Pete Golding.
Teams five through eight in the final CFP rankings, released Dec. 7, host first-round games Dec. 19 and 20. The Rebels were seventh in last Tuesday’s CFP rankings, one spot ahead of Oklahoma (10-2), a team Ole Miss beat in the regular season.
On the field, there isn’t much reason to believe the committee would drop the Rebels two spots after they moved to 11-1 with a convincing victory against Mississippi State on Friday, especially because their only loss was to Georgia.
The offense, led by standout tailback Kewan Lacy and Ferris State transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, gives the Rebels a chance against anyone, but the defense probably prevents it from winning four games against Playoff-level competition.
Ole Miss ranks 40th in yards per play allowed at 5.2. Of the past nine national champions, none ranked lower than 29th — and that was 2019 LSU, which had the best offense we’ve ever seen. Eight of the past nine national champions have finished in the top 15 in scoring defense. Again, 2019 LSU (31st) was the lone exception. Ole Miss ranks 25th right now. The Rebels also rank 75th nationally in yards per rush allowed.
We get a new poll tonight that will give us a truer glimpse of where they will start and how they may finish. Based on the one that Doric compiled yesterday that assumes the 7 seed, that gives Ole Miss a home game with an Alabama foe that barely got by Auburn–a matchup that would have been that much more delicious had it involved Kiffin against the team he got dismissed from just before the national championship game. A win there could set them up for a neutral site quarterfinal tilt in Dallas’s Cotton Bowl with the one team that beat them in the regular season, Georgia. That’s a daunting, but not insurmountable path.
And apologies to my buddy whose son attends UGA, that’s not a strong enough tie to move me in your direction. After all, at least since Sunday, I was born a Rebel.
Courage…