Tyrann Mathieu pushes back on Lane Kiffin to LSU, cites 'disloyalty' from coach

Lane Kiffin remains the most wanted man in college football as three different SEC powers — Florida, LSU and Ole Miss — continue to manuever behind the scenes to either acquire or retain his head coaching services. But at least one notable Tigers alum is questioning whether his alma mater should even be involved in the Kiffin rat race.

Former LSU and New Orleans Saints star Tyrann Mathieu, a beloved Louisiana native who recently retired following a successful 11-year NFL career, called the Tigers’ all-out pursuit of Kiffin into question, citing the sixth-year Rebels coach’s perceived “disloyalty” to a No. 7 Ole Miss squad (10-1, 6-1 SEC) currently in the thick of a College Football Playoff national championship run.

“Do we want the guy that’s kind of showing us his disloyalty? Like, do I really want that guy?” Mathieu said in Tuesday’s episode of his In The Bayou with Tyrann Mathieu podcast. “Because he built the Ole Miss program, that’s all his fingerprints. A couple of years ago they were calling him the ‘Transfer Portal King’ and all that. So he’s created this culture and environment where a lot of guys want to go play for Ole Miss, right. And now it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I took you to the alter, but I don’t think I want to marry you.’ And I think as a player, if I was a play at Ole Miss, I would somewhat feel some type of way. Because we’re having all this success, everything is going our way, and you want to leave for the girl down the street?

“I know he’s the best candidate, he’s my No. 1 candidate too, but do I want to deal with that?” Mathieu continued. “Ole Miss didn’t have that flair, I think Lane Kiffin brought that flair. Lane Kiffin needed some structure, and I think Ole Miss provided that for him. It seemed like a happy marriage, until the big booty girl showed up on the front porch like, ‘Hey, I’m available.’”

In Mathieu’s scenario, LSU — proudly known by locals as “The Boot” — is the “big booty girl” from down the street. And while his relationship analogy might be a bit derivative, Mathieu’s overall point questioning if Kiffin is being disloyal to an Ole Miss program he built into a perennial SEC power isn’t without merit. In fact, many Rebels fans have asked the same question.

For his part, Kiffin has done his best to downplay the potential impact that his in-season engagement in one of the wildest coaching carousels in recent memory will have on Ole Miss’ season. Of course, that has mostly involved his outright refusal to even talk about other jobs, which has only fostered more uncertainty about his future plans. Even ESPN‘s “Mouth of the South” Paul Finebaum has called out Kiffin for his clear obfuscation about what’s next for him.

“Yes, it has been handled very poorly. … Instead, this has turned into an absolute circus created and orchestrated and directed by Lane Kiffin,” Finebaum said on Wednesday’s First Take on ESPN. “It’s not all that difficult. If you don’t want to stay at Ole Miss, you just simply pick up and leave. Or if you are going to stay, and he keeps giving these nuanced answers as if he wants to be there and doesn’t want to leave, you simply announce you’re going to be there. It’s not hard. It happens in every profession, including this one.

“But Lane Kiffin seems to walk to his own beat, he seems to have the entire college football world – if not sports world – revolving around him on his axis. He seems to be enjoying it, even though he doesn’t act like he is. But ultimately he’s going to have to make a decision, and no matter what he chooses, it is going to be met with great resistance elsewhere.”