Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin savagely trolls Tennessee in call for Ole Miss fan support in Week 1

by: Alex Byington08/20/25_AlexByington
NCAA Football: Gator Bowl-Duke at Mississippi
Jan 2, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin looks on against the Duke Blue Devils in the fourth quarter during the Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Lane Kiffin never misses an opportunity to poke fun at Tennessee and its fans, and if the Ole Miss coach can rile up his own Rebels fanbase in the process, all the merrier. The 50-year-old head coach accomplished both those feats Wednesday afternoon with his latest social media troll.

Ten days out from Ole Miss’ 2025 season opener versus Georgia State, Kiffin shared a picture showing the Panthers’ last season-opening win over an SEC opponent came in 2019 against the Vols, a 38-30 upset inside Neyland Stadium in what’d be Jeremy Pruitt‘s second season in Knoxville. The Rebels host the Panthers at 6:45 pm ET, Aug. 30 from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.

Check it out below:

The 2019 season-opening loss to Georgia State turned out to be the beginning of the end for Pruitt’s tenure in Knoxville, which formally ended with his Jan. 2021 firing following an internal investigation into rampant recruiting violations. Of course, those violations resulted in the NCAA vacating all of Tennessee’s wins between the 2019-2020 seasons as well as slapping a six-year show-cause order against Pruitt in July 2023 following a lengthy investigation.

Of course, Kiffin infamously had his own unique breakup as Tennessee’s head coach when he opted to leave in the dead of night after just one season (2009) to become head coach at USC.

Ole Miss enters the 2025 season with plenty of questions after losing the program’s all-time leading passer in Jaxson Dart to the NFL. Kiffin is expected to turn the ball over to talented former four-star 2023 signee Austin Simmons, whose debut as the Rebels’ QB1 will come Aug. 30 against Georgia State.

Lane Kiffin pokes fun at Auburn play-calling structure, asks who decides fourth down

Last week, Auburn coaches indicated a unique play-calling structure in place. Derrick Nix calls first down while Kent Austin takes care of third down, and Hugh Freeze can overrule at any time.

It’s shaping up to be a group effort. When he saw it come across his timeline, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin poked fun at the strategy.

Kiffin wondered if there was a fourth coach on staff to take care of fourth down. He also tagged Auburn Football in the post as he continues to showcase his sense of humor on social media.

Nix spoke with reporters about the collaboration on play-calling and the coaches’ different responsibilities. He also made it clear Freeze has the ability to step in if there’s something he doesn’t liek or wants to change.

“I try to do a good job on first-and-10, drive-starters. Kent does our third downs,” Nix said, via AL.com’s Peter Rauterkus. “Head coach has the authority to overrule anything we say or do.”

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.