OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding walked out of his press conference to a standing ovation from the donors who had filed into the room after the Rebels had spoiled Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford.
You can call it karma. You can call it revenge for everything that transpired over the past ten months. But, for those roaming the Ole Miss campus following the cinematic win over LSU, it was more of a sign that this football program is going to be just fine without Lane Kiffin.
A lot was made of the former coach returning this weekend to the place that truly made him. There were signs placed all throughout the “Grove” that showed the disdain the people of Mississippi had for Lane Kiffin. You didn’t have to look very far.
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But, the whole thing felt more like it was made for television from the start.
Fences guarded the LSU entrance like something you’d see out of a movie involving a prison. As Kiffin stepped off the bus on Saturday evening, you could feel a quick breeze in the air.
The guy who had spent so much time trying to defend his reasonings for leaving Ole Miss before they started their CFP run had returned to coach an opposing team. But, not just any team. This was hated Rebels’ rival, LSU.
All of hoopla surrounding this return to Oxford, and maybe we should have been focusing on the guy currently in charge of running the ‘Sip.’
As Pete Golding stood at the podium after securing the second-biggest win of his short tenure as head coach (Sugar Bowl), super agent Jimmy Sexton stood off to the side. Sitting off to the right, holding one of the game balls was Ole Miss collective CEO Walker Jones, who could not help but to drop his head every now and then, almost as if it was a sigh of relief that this was over.
For the guy who he used to raise money for, Kiffin sat at his postgame table just outside the visitors locker room, mentioning how thankful he was that this week was finally over.
Yes, he did quip that it took him leaving for Ole Miss to have an environment like the one seen on Saturday night, which is just another way for him to cope with the loss tonight.
What we witnessed on a hot and humid night inside Vaught Hemingway Stadium was more about the folks who decided to stay, and not leave for the Bayou.
When the pressure was put squarely back on the Rebels, it was the guy who decided to stick around who came up big once again.
Trinidad Chambliss had thought about what life would look like outside of Oxford. Maybe he was supposed to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU, and finish his collegiate career with the same offensive coordinator that first ignited this run in Charlie Weiss Jr. along the Bayou.
But, when he sprinted around defenders towards the Ole Miss end zone to put the Rebels out in front for good late in the fourth quarter, everything this young man decided to do made sense for those involved. He is one of the most electrifying players in all of college football, and we should have paid more attention to him this week.
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Unfortunately for many, the illusion of Lane Kiffin can get the best of you. Along with the circumstances surrounding his return to Oxford.
For almost the entire game, besides an interception in the third quarter, Chambliss showed us why he embodies what Ole Miss truly stands for. There are no smoke and mirrors around him, or drama, that you might see with his former head coach.
This is a quarterback who decided to stick around, when he could’ve left for the “bigger school,” according to some.
But tonight, in front of what was the wildest crowd Ole Miss has most likely ever seen, it was the former Ferris State transfer that showed he truly belonged in Oxford.
As the Tigers walked off the field, with Kiffin flanked by enough state troopers to guard the president, you could feel the emotion of an Ole Miss crowd that was happy to be over with this nonsense.
Kiffin was asked postgame whether he was glad this week came to an end.
“Yea, I’m sure i’ll be criticized for saying that, but I am,” Kiffin said. “I was thinking that all week, especially today. And, I would have said that in a win or loss. That was really emotional driving in on the busses for a lot of reasons. It was really just a lot of emotions of gratefulness for this place for six years. Went well beyond football.
“You know, first time coming into this type of game without my dad. It was just a lot, and really emotional. But, it was not emotions that I thought I would feel for all the name calling and everthing when we got off the bus. Just a lot of gratitude for this place.”
Well, he’s definitely glad it’s over, even if LSU lost by a final score of 32-24.
But, don’t forget that he cast himself as the main character in this story from the start, and never let go of the rope. For ten months, this has been the Kiffin biopic, directed by himself and those within his circle.
It certainly sold a bunch of tickets, but obviously ended in a way in which Kiffin certainly didn’t write.
Pete Golding was the one receiving an ovation after this game, while Lane Kiffin walked off the field to a chorus of cheers reigning down from Ole Miss fans.
No, they weren’t cheering the former head coach who now resides in Baton Rouge.
They were showing the current leader in Oxford the credit he rightfully deserves.
Watch out, college football. If you didn’t realize it last season when Kiffin left, this Ole Miss team is going to be just fine into the future.