Lane Kiffin makes plea to media using Nick Saban catchphrase
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin made a plea, citing a popular Nick Saban catchphrase, asking for media to please “stop with all the rat poison.”
Nick Saban has used the term ‘rat poison’ in regards to positive media attention. The Alabama head coach first used the term in 2017, after Alabama’s 27-19 win over Texas A&M.
“I’m trying to get our players to listen to me instead of listening to you guys,” Saban said at the time. “All that stuff you write about how good we are, and all that stuff they hear on ESPN, it’s like poison. It’s like taking poison … like rat poison! So, I’m asking them, ‘are you going to listen to me, or are you going to listen to these guys about how good you are?’”
Kiffin, who served as Saban’s offensive coordinator from 2014-2016, has asked for media to stop the rat poison and used emojis referencing rat poison earlier on Tuesday in response to a post that Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral is the Heisman frontrunner.
The media is buzzing about Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels for good reason. The Rebels opened the season with decisive wins over Louisville, Austin Peay and Tulane.
Against a Tulane team that held strong with No. 4 Oklahoma just weeks earlier, Ole Miss rolled, winning 61-21. In the victory, Corral finished with 335 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 68 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Corral became the first player in SEC history to throw for three touchdowns and rush for four touchdowns in the same game.
Through the first three games, Corral has thrown for 997 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 58 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Lane Kiffin Instagram saga
Lane Kiffin is new to Instagram, and just last week he said in a caption that it’s “about time” for his first post. Evidently, it’s time for his first follow, too — but Kiffin originally decided to keep it at just one: five-star quarterback recruit Arch Manning, much to the frustration of his starting quarterback Corral.
In a since-deleted tweet, Kiffin shared a screenshot of a Twitter direct message from Corral that said, “Don’t even follow your own QB…outrageous,” with a heart and a laughing emoji. Kiffin posted the screenshot with the caption, “Now this is funny!! You jealous, @corral_matt??”
Although Kiffin deleted the tweet of Corral’s direct message, his quarterback’s plea must have worked, as Kiffin now follows two Instagram accounts: Corral and Manning.