Lane Kiffin addresses Monday morning tweet, growth as a human
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is known for his antics on Twitter, but one tweet from Monday morning took on a much more serious tone. Kiffin quoted a tweet from author Brianna Wiest on the meaning of happiness with the hope of inspiring some of his followers.
Asked to elaborate on the tweet in his Monday press conference, Kiffin got personal about hardships he has faced such as divorce and being fired. In the end, he was able to come out a stronger person because of it with a new perspective on life.
“I just saw that this morning and thought it was really cool,” Kiffin said. “I do those things early in the morning sometimes. Maybe someone’s out there that needs some motivation going through some stuff. The ability to use a platform as a head coach and Twitter with that many people is really valuable. I just thought that was really cool what she said.
“I think we all go through things. I’ve been through a lot and I think they’re well-documented. Divorce, firings. Now being here and my daughter moving here, you kind of get out of that world and get back into it. Things change. I didn’t think I’d be watching a Nicholas Sparks movie on Sunday night with six high school girls sitting there on the couch and a dog.”
Lane Kiffin’s mention of the family moment prompted another tweet from his dog Juice’s account, which brought some humor into the situation.
“So cool! My dad included me and our #ModernFamily in press conference,” the tweet read. “Except he lied he totally cried last night during the movie, only one who did. Thanks @NicholasSparks“
After being fired from USC in 2013 and going through his divorce in 2016, Kiffin remembers finding it hard to get motivated. He still kept pushing, spending three years under Nick Saban at Alabama before re-entering the head coaching ranks in 2017 at Florida Atlantic. But it wasn’t until he took the job at Ole Miss in 2020 that he decided to make a key change.
“I used to not be a morning person, and I kind of changed that probably about two years ago,” Kiffin said. “Like anything, those are habits. I just kind of always said I wasn’t a morning person, and once you say you’re not, you’re not gonna be. I kind of flipped that starting with working out in the morning. Like this morning, 6 a.m. hot yoga before you come to work. It’ll kind of get you moving in a good direction. It’ll make you not a night person because you’ll be tired by the end of the night.”
With Kiffin now in a much happier place than he was a few years ago, he is hopeful that his example can inspire others to make changes they need to in their own lives.