E575 Lane Kiffin
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Whether you're going solo or teaming up with your squad, it's time to come home to Verdansk. Download Call of Duty Warzone for free and dive into the action today. Rated M for Mature. Today's guest is the head coach at Ole Miss down in Oxford, Mississippi, which is where we are taping today. He's helped take that program to new heights in the past five years. He's got his own group of fans called the Laniacs.

And it was great talking to him about his mentality on life, coaching, and leadership. Today's guest is the one, the only, Lane Kiffin. Yeah, bro, so you invited, did you invite me to Pilates or did you invite me to yoga? Yoga. Very big difference.

Yeah. My daughter's actually a Pilates teacher, but yoga is like better, like the hot yoga part of it. Yeah. Intensity, like make it so, so miserable. You know, that's what I do. I control the heat in the back. You do? Yeah. At the yoga studio? Yeah. Oh, that's great, man. Yeah. Does it remind you almost of game day out there on the field? Like, is it, cause it gets pretty, I mean, you're in the SEC, so it's really, this is really humid area. Yeah.

Yeah. So I make it that way too, like that we're playing like in the swamp or in Baton Rouge, like in our early September games. So it's like really hot. So you gotta like fight through it. Yeah. Yeah. Baton Ratchet, dude. That's what I call it. Yeah. I was trying to get you to go this morning. So then like you would have gone through the misery and the experience and then we'd like discuss it on air. So you'd be like, man. I did get my yoga in this morning though. Yeah. A little slower. A little different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got it in at room temp.

This isn't like traditional yoga, like flow, which that's good. And that's actually where I started with it. Then I was like, I got to go to another level, like make this, put a heater in there, like make it as hot, intense, and then like put cardio in there.

and um i just like bringing new people too and then they struggle so it makes me feel good about myself oh yeah yeah that's part of it that's so oh yeah yeah that was me this just a couple hours ago getting it done with my cat williams statue right there i didn't know what that was like nutcracker or something oh yeah that's a that's a statue of cat williams that they have but yeah so is that a big part of your like is yoga like a regular part of your day usually or your week yeah every day every morning it like starts my day that way and it's

so there's no phone for an hour you know and you gotta like you gotta get uncomfortable and you gotta sit in it so i fear if i can start my day usually at like six o'clock in the morning that way and be so uncovered that's the hardest part of my day the rest of it man i can deal with the rest yeah and so that you know you just you get in those poses too in those positions you're just like man this is

I want to get out of this discomfort. So I got to stay in the discomfort. And over time, just I'm able to stay in it longer and longer and more intense with the heat. And I feel like the rest of the day, man, I'm just kind of like chill for the rest of the day.

And what, so the, if the heat's been ramped up, what's the next thing you think you would add into, um, to Lane Kiffin, like the Lane Kiffin yoga experience, which almost seems like people should wear pads to be at it. It seems like. Yeah. Well, we have playlists. So we got good music, good energetic music. Uh, we put some cardio in there now. And so we challenged the teachers, like come up with the hardest things possible. So they just like make this list of stuff. Like,

you know, back when you were like young and you were like training in high school and they just put up all the, all the different, like three by 10, three by 15, like all these and keep going. And then like some of the classes like are public, right?

So we got students in there. We got other people in there. So, and then we like, I feel like civilians, I call them. Yeah. I'm trying, I'm trying to take Oxford to another level. So I'm like, I want for generations it to be tough. Yeah. And so sometimes they're like, well, open the door. You know, I'm like, don't open the door, man. We like keep them in the heat. Yeah. Hold the line. Yeah. So then at the end, like, I'm like, guess what? We need overtime. Like last week, I'm like, it's March madness. We need an overtime. And everybody's like, no, no overtime. Yeah.

no overtime coach. And I'm like, kick the field goal coach. We got to get out of here. We're making these kids tougher. Dang. I can't believe I, the fact that somebody is trying to start generational yoga is, uh, that's next level, man. I guess that's the Lane Kiffin level, you know? Yeah.

And I like the fact, yeah, you hit me up on social media. I thought that was cool just to like kind of welcome me into the area today. So I thought that was pretty cool. You kind of have like a notorious, you're kind of notorious on Twitter for like being like a unique, like kind of an outspoken coach. Would you say that's a fair term?

Yeah, I would say very different. Yeah. I looked at social media when I started. It was for recruiting because we weren't able to text. It was a dumb NCAA rule like most of them. You couldn't text them? Could you mail? Yeah, you could DM them. You could...

On Twitter, you can message them. You can message them. On Twitter, but you couldn't text them personally? Yes. It made no sense. Right. So that's why it was started. And then I just kind of started being a normal person. I was like, you know, I can't be a normal person as a coach in a lot of my life. So I was like, on social media, I'll just be normal. And then buddies start sending me stuff. I just retweet it. Or other coaches, like in the SEC, like Kirby Smart. He all the time because he's politically correct. So...

he's like got stuff he wants to put out there, but he's like, they just send it to me because they know I will. So I just kind of embraced it and ran with it. Yeah. I think it's, I think it separates you from some of the other guys out there. That's for sure. I think, yeah, it makes you seem a little bit more kind of crazy and personable at the same time. I think the reason why I kept going with it was because I would go into home visits and these parents,

or they'd come into my office like when they're doing a campus tour and they would say to me,

coach, we feel like we already know you. We love your social media. I love your Twitter. I love your Instagram. Like we feel like we already know you. And I'm like, well, shoot, how much is that worth? That they're already coming to visit us wanting their kid to go here saying we already know you because of it. So then I just kept going with it. Yeah. I mean, look, you're the only, you're the only college coach that we've wanted to meet up with. So this has kind of worked out. Yeah. I think it probably does have an effect, you know, I've made it. I feel like I've made it then. Well,

Well, no, this college coach that Theo Vaughn wants to do a show with. You don't lose your job by the time this is over then. That's the goal. That's the goal. Yeah. To keep you. 55 more minutes. Yeah. 55 more minutes. That's the goal. Is there a difference between the kind of the Twitter lane and, and I'm, I'm the one saying, putting you in a third person. I know you're not doing that. So, but is there a difference between the kind of the Twitter personality and the personality of the actual personality? Like what's kind of like offline lane? Yeah.

I would say the Twitter is probably closer to it. You know, people that are around me all the time and stuff say like, what was out there early on, especially about me or what people think really isn't what he is. And you probably hear that a lot, but yeah. So I feel like Twitter is more actually how I am just kind of, okay, that's funny. I'll just like say that or send that out, you know, like, and so,

I'm not an old school coach in many regards at all, just because I think you should always evolve. You should always not do things because it was in a book of how to do it before and always kind of test things. You know, like around here we say, you know, instead of just thinking outside the box, we create a new box. We challenge everything, different ways of thinking things. So, and social media is part of that because that's not, or how I do a press conference or even doing this. There'll probably be some coaches that even if they're

If you did call them up for this, they wouldn't do it because it's okay. Well, that's not really the message I want to put out, you know? Yeah. Um, yeah. Kim Mulkey won't text me back. I mean, that should be like a no brainer. That's what I'm thinking in state. I mean, you gotta have amazing, like Louisiana following positive numbers. I don't know how they track that, but it's gotta be amazing.

I mean, you're one of them. Yeah, I'm not at the Flows and Johnson levels yet. I'll get there, though, I think. So why do you think, like, because, yeah, you do have a unique personality, right? And at least your personality is able to be seen these days. And I think that that's something that just happens more over time with social media and more just we have more video of people in general now, you know? So there's just, like, so many more little moments that get captured so you get to know somebody's personality. And that's how I think a lot of fans, they—

I think they gravitate a lot more towards athletes, coaches, anybody really in the world because they get to know their personality, right? We were talking before about social media and how that kind of like, like why people kind of gravitate towards certain people on social media. And I think some of that's, that's just kind of the answer. It's just, there's more out there. And if people are willing to show some of their personality and not kind of follow like this playbook of exactly how things are supposed to be, but remain within HR, you know,

HR has a box you have to stay in pretty much. Yeah. But I think, I don't know if I'm, don't make any sense. As a head coach, you got a lot of people that you've got to please. Right. And that's challenging in these type of settings, these things, because you want to talk to recruits in that age group, your current players, your fans, but then you also have administration. You've got

Old donors that have been around a long time, seen things done a certain way for a long time. So there's a lot of challenges in that. And you can't you can't please everybody, which, you know, so I've kind of right or wrong. I've always said, hey, my job is to wherever I'm working at, meaning my job is to Ole Miss and not to potential future donors.

Presidents or ADs at other places or other fan bases. And so whether I was at Tennessee or USC or here, wherever I was, it was like, okay, a lot of what I say other fans don't like, maybe even other athletic directors like, well, I don't like that he said that.

But our own fans, our own administration really like it because it's usually me backing Ole Miss and saying what I think about the program, what it should be, and maybe sometimes taking shots at other programs or something like that. Factual information. Blatantly. And putting it out there.

And so that upsets some people and upsets a lot of other fan bases. Well, that's not my job to worry about them. Yeah, you have one fan base. Yeah, they're not. They didn't hire me. They're not paying the bills. So I've always looked at it, and I think a lot of coaches don't do that. And I'm not saying I'm right. A lot of coaches say, hey, I'm going to say things so that future employers' potential, that they see it, so then they're going to want to hire me. And I've just never thought that way. Do you...

You already had two experiences like coaching in the sec, right. At, um, Alabama and at Tennessee. Yep. Um, like how's it been different here at Ole Miss? Cause I mean, you know, some people call it the Yale of Mississippi kind of, well, I think, you know, I was, as you mentioned, the head coach of Tennessee, then office coordinator at Alabama. So spent some time there. Um,

And those programs really over a long period of time had won a lot of games. Alabama, unbelievable championship runs, coach saving probably a, you know, a decade there that's never going to be done ever again. Yeah. Too many wins, I think for a school, not good for them at a certain point, but we're not, not good for competitive environment throughout the conference when he was taking all the players and winning all the games. No. Yeah.

And Ole Miss had been down. Right. You know, somebody said a stat the other day, you know, in the last four years. So the seniors in college here, it's been a cool experience for them. They saw a national championship in baseball. They just saw both basketball teams go to the Sweet 16. And in four years of football here, we've had three top 12 finishes. Well, they only had one in the previous 51 years. Wow. So there's been four in 55 years. They've seen three of the four. So that's

The difference, obviously, in the programs was different, but I really liked that. It was like a challenge because you can come in at the top of a place that's kind of always won and then you win. It's like, okay, versus, wow, let's like change what's happened. Let's like create a new winning culture, a new way of thinking in how the locker room and the whole university thinks about football and the program. And so, yeah.

We've raised the expectations to where we won 10 games and people are upset around here, you know? Right. And so. Yeah, that's a different energy. You guys were 13 points away from 13 more points and you guys are undefeated last year. 13 total. Well, you need three to win. So 16 more points last year and you guys would have been undefeated. Yeah. Pretty crazy. Yeah. We played 13 games, 10 of them. We won by double digits. And then the three losses were all one score games.

right at the end of the game. - What's kind of different between coaching like in the Pac-10 or I think it's the Pac-12 or something now everybody keeps kind of like changing their names, but. - Yeah, I don't think it exists anymore. It's like Pac-2 now. - Yeah, Pac-2. - Yeah, it was like, it was eight at one point and it was 10 and it was 12.

And some of those teams should not have been in there. And now there's like two, everybody else left. What was it like? What do you notice different between coaching and like the pack, like a different conference as opposed to the sec, like you coached at FAU, you coached at, um, you coached in the pack 10 to 12, eight, you know, what's the difference you think? Yeah. You know, there's a saying like in the sec day coin, like it just means more. And it really does like the passion in the towns, um, for the football programs, um,

The attention on it and really the play over time has been dominant. The SEC's had more draft picks, more championships, all those things.

It's just different. It's a way of life down here. Oh, yeah. And people that can't even read and they can, but they're just yelling, go dogs. I feel if somebody come out of a coma and be like, go dogs or something, you know? Yeah. Or somebody like come out of a coma and be like, honey, honey, and then just pass away. Like people's last words, baby's first words. There's like 30 videos of baby's first words being like SEC chance or whatever.

It's a lot. I was the head coach at USC. You spend time out in LA. So it's just a different world out there. And I remember I was walking through campus and I was like, man, I bet like 50, 70% of these students have no idea who I am. I'm the head coach of the football team. They got no idea who I am. They just, they're going to school at USC, you know, getting their education. Yeah. Um,

And like here that, that like, like 100% know who you are, you know, like the, the little kids, like the, you know, you go to like walk downtown and like a four-year-old's like coach Kiffin, like they know who you are. So it's like, they'll complain about your people that haven't been down here.

Maybe that makes sense to them, like, to understand that. You know, like, you don't go anywhere without everybody knowing who you are, but also like that, too. You know, kids will be like, yeah, they're like eight-year-old kid, maybe not four, they just say, go to hell, kid. But eight-year-old, well, we've been winnings, I don't say that, but that'll happen as soon as we lose a couple. Yeah. But no, they do. They'll be like,

coach man, like what about throwing that tight end on the in route? I'm like, you're like eight. Like, how do you, how do you know that? Yeah. It's 11 a.m. What are you doing at this cafe? You should be in school. You should easily, obviously you're truant.

But yeah, it's definitely, it's a lot more intense in the South. It's just, yeah, it's. Yeah, they're like, like, coach, you're three for 14 on third downs. I'm like, I didn't even know that. And they do. But it's just, it just means more the passion for it. And it's also why it's so awesome too. It's why the stadiums are the way that they are. The electricity before games as people walk into the stadiums. Like, it's just different. It's awesome. I love that. Yeah, because you guys have a walk. I mean, I think a couple of teams do a walk now.

Do people ever try and tickle you or whatever when you walk by her? That's crazy. That's something. Well, I like moved. This happened at Tennessee and then here. And maybe this isn't like...

the best thing, but I like moved it a little wider. Like they didn't have like barricades on the walk and they're like, well, it's great, man. The fans are like, you interact with them. I'm like, well, this walk is like a half mile. Like you're walking through like 40,000 people, you know? And like, you gotta wear a suit and everything. And then like, they're like grabbing you and everything. And so I moved the barricades a little adults. Yeah. Like a little wider. Plus, I mean, we are in the deep South, so there's a lot of great things. And,

But I mean, there's just some different things too. Now, you know, they're like grabbing you and I got to spit on her hand stuff. I've never plugged a man. People just yelling stuff. Like, yeah, there's a lot. It's like, whoa, can we like move these just back a little bit? Maybe like, maybe I can just do the wave. Yeah. You know, Hey guys, good to see you. Put the defensive tackles along the outside. Yeah, I agree. But you guys, yeah, it's definitely a ton of tradition here. I mean, this is like Morgan Freeman's front porch down here in the South. It's a slower lifestyle. Was that a little bit tough for you?

I mean, what's, I mean, it is, Mississippi is the, it's a, it is like wandering back through time, you know? Yeah. There's a lot there. Yeah. I can unpack there. Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of history. I moved here. A lot of tradition. And everything you're giving me is just full disclosure anyway. I moved here because it was SEC head job and I thought we could win and do a great job.

I wasn't like, man, I want to move to like, I'm just really dying to move to Oxford, Mississippi. Right. But I also didn't know much about it either. So I judged it that way, just kind of like a lot of people do about Mississippi. And at first, it was a lot because I'd spent most of my time before that in South Florida or in LA at USC. And I was like, at first, I was like, whew, this is a lot. Like, I mean, long-winded, like,

A lot of conversations, slow moving. Oh, yeah. But then you say thank you. Like, it's not over. Right. Hey, thank you. Yeah. And then, like, they just keep going. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like, no, but no, really, thank you. I really appreciate it. Like, I'm going to go now. Oh, well, what are you? So what are you doing tomorrow? I just met you. Like, you know, like.

Oh yeah. You can make, everybody's a friend. They, and there's also so many famous authors though that that's why the South is so full of famous storytellers because everybody is one, you know? But then it took me some, I'm so glad that I've been here long enough now, five years going on the sixth year. And now I see it completely different. Now I go back to like South Florida or I go to LA and I'm like, dang, these people are rude. Like everybody's just moving fast. Everybody's just into themselves. Nobody's like saying hi. So it's like,

What I thought really was kind of bad, now I'm like, man, I love it now. You know, it's like a warmth, a sweetness, you know, hospitality and people being nice. And I've learned to, that's actually slowed me down because I was always like, what job can I get? You know, how fast can I move? How many championships to win? Like just always moving, right?

And I was like, maybe they're onto something here. Maybe this slow down thing that I was judging at first, like I made jokes about the rocking chairs, like people sit in rocking chairs. Yeah. And I'm like, at first. Like Charlotte airport or whatever. I saw that. Yeah, I did when I was, and I was like. You'll see somebody has a 40 second layover. They're like, I'm going to get a little rest in. Yeah. And I'm like, I actually saw some right away and people were in them. And I said to some right away, I'm like, what are they doing? That looks miserable. Like that's so slow. And there's just two of them.

Sometimes one. Like, what are you doing? They don't even have their phone out. Like, what are you doing? And now I'm like, hey, they're onto something. Just slow down. And so I've kind of said, hey, maybe there's something to the Mississippi lane. I just slow down, taking conversations, listen to people instead of just always talking and moving. And, um,

And now I love it. It's definitely like the program is, it feels a lot different. You know, my best friend has been in hiding for years. He's an Ole Miss like fanatic. He will sit there and, you know, he's betting on test scores. He's betting on all types of stuff. He's betting on SAT over-unders for, you know, foreign exchange students. So he gambles as well, obviously. But now he's like out and proud kind of, you know. He's rocking that powder blue the past few years. He's really feeling the vibes, you know. I had some cool, a couple of cool things happen like that where-

I was with Landry, my daughter at this. With Landry? Yes. Okay. At Jinsei, the sushi restaurant. And I'm at the restaurant with her and this kid comes up and senior in college. And she goes, she, and like the South, because women know the football just as much as the men. Oh, yeah. And she's like, I just want to thank you.

She's like, my four years here have been amazing. Like she's like, this was like a year ago. So her first year had been bad. So she's like my four year, the first year, the team was bad. Then you came and then she's like, you totally changed my college experience. I'm like, dang, that's really cool. You know, that like, like you said, your buddy now like feels better about wearing an Ole Miss shirt. You know, there's like more pride into it, you know? So that's pretty cool that we've been part of that change and part of that experience for kids that like,

now they're going to want to come back to games, you know? And so that's pretty cool. Oh yeah. I mean, it's like, that's when you want to be there. You want to be there at the, at the angle, you know, that's when you want to be there. Yeah. Nobody wants to be like, man, when I was in college, man, our team sucked. Like nobody went to the games. It was terrible. You know, like, so it's really cool that we've been part of that again, coming into a place that had been down a little bit. That's another cool part of it. Yeah. And also like the players too, when you come in and they've been losing, like,

then the players in the locker room and you come in and they just embrace everything and then you start winning and they're just so excited because they're not used to it so that's a really cool thing about turning programs around and being in those locker rooms to see that happen yes to see their appreciation for that again where if you're just coming in and places on top and they're just winning and they're just winning again that's just they just expect it and so they're not as appreciative of those moments because they haven't had it taken away right

You're on a pretty famous like text chain with like other SEC coaches. This is alleged. Yeah. Kirby Smart. Sarkeesian. What are the vibes on the chain? I feel like like what is it like on there? I feel like I keep it together. Like I keep the group together because like one will beat the other or they'll say something and they kind of like get mad at each other and

then they won't like text for a week if like you beat him then he doesn't text for a week or if they're playing each other that week they certainly aren't going to say anything and i'm like guys and by you beat him it means you when you guys beat georgia last year but go on i feel it but then i just say something that night right you know like hey man like you'll probably get us next year you know like they don't like they don't think that's funny you know like then one of them side text me like hey man you shouldn't have said that kirby's pissed off you know

And I'm like, dude, it's just a game. Relax. We're buddies. Do you guys vote on how another coach gets into the text chain? What is the... Yeah. There's been conversations about that. Really? I just kind of... I actually have a... They may not know this. We're giving a lot of information out today. Appreciate you coming. So, you know, kind of give you some special insight. I have multiple ones.

So sometimes I'll say something, that guy's not in it, and that guy's, you know, then this guy's in it. And so, like, I kind of make sure I know who's in them, you know, when I say certain things. And then, you know, every once in a while I've got somebody who does something, and then I move them out of the chat. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's happened, you know. Jimbo Fisher removed from chat. R.I.P. And then I like put them.

Yeah. And they're like typical coaches. They don't know how to remove somebody or add somebody. So it's like pretty cool that I can do it. And they're like, how do you do that? Yeah. Lane's one of them tech wizards. Yeah. Yeah. Coaches are a little behind time. That's a big deal to be able to remove somebody from a chat. Like, whoa, he must really like have somebody teaching him this stuff. Who is the most mysterious SEC coach to you, do you think? Maybe Brian Kelly, speaking of LSU. You know, like I like Brian.

Not a South guy, you know, kind of came in. And so I think maybe people don't really understand him. You know, he's just kind of, he's a little bit different than maybe your traditional, like Kirby smart. He's like born and raised SEC. Oh yeah. He cuts his own hair.

It looks like it. Yeah, it definitely does. He really does? I'm totally putting that in the chat. Oh, I don't know. It definitely looks like somebody ran a slant with some scissors across his forehead. Yeah, like a bull. Oh, it's unbelievable. And here's the thing. And he shows the same haircut from when he was playing. It's like it never changed. And it's a children's bull. Get an adult bull. He does. What kind of dishware are you guys using at the salon? No, and actually, beautiful man there, too. I wanted to say that, Kirby. Oh, there you go. But yeah, well, Brian Kelly, they also put him on that Lazy Susan. Remember when he first came in? It's like...

And it's a tough thing. - I retweeted that. - You what? - I retweeted that, like when he did that thing. - Oh, you did? - Yeah. He was with the quarter. It was terrible. - Look at that. I thought this was for a strip club, to be honest with you. I thought this was for a club. - Yeah, I think I wrote something like, "Do you actually know they're filming you?" Like, "Did you put this out on purpose?" Like you...

You know they're going to film you when you're doing this? - I thought this was a gender reveal and I was like, well, what are we, what is it? - Yeah, and it's not like his first one. He did it like the year before. I'm like, do you realize you're like kind of grinding on the dude? - This was also a strip club advertisement near Natchez, Mississippi, I think as well. No judgment outside of there. I've spent time there, but yeah, maybe Brian Kelly is kind of mysterious.

I think also maybe it's just because he's from, he hadn't, had he coached in the SEC before or not? No, I don't think so. And he's a nice guy. You're like at Notre Dame. Right. You're at Notre Dame and then you're like LSU. I know. I mean. I know. I mean, you went from heaven to. Yeah, that's just like, that's as big a change as you can have. South Bend to Baton Rouge. Oh, yeah. And the SEC. And so.

Oh, yeah, dude. South Bend is down there under the Mr. Weatherall belt. Yeah, I think that's about I don't think they make a bigger change than that. With longer daylight hours, maybe you're spending more time away from the house and giving burglars opportunity to strike. But you can protect your home with SimpliSafe's proactive security that helps stop threats before they happen. I've used SimpliSafe for a while. I even have it set up on my mother's home.

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One thing that's interesting about the SEC is you'll have people that didn't go to college, but they will show up at the games as if it's their school. And that doesn't happen like in as many other places. It just does not happen. You have people who can't read, people who can't see, but they'll show up and watch a game somehow. And you don't see that in other conferences. So that totally happens. And I remember –

So my first taste of the South was going to Tennessee as the head coach. And I'm coming from, I was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. And I've been at USC before this. I'm like coming from California to like Tennessee. And I remember, I'm like, there's a lot of people. They have a spring game. There's like 70,000 people here at the spring game, like 50,000 there two hours before. And they're like, yeah, at the, at the big games, like the thing will sell out. Then there'll be another 20,000 outside. And I'm like,

I went to school here. I'm like, no, no, don't get it. No. And then when I went to Alabama, the same thing, they're like, no, half these people didn't go to school here. They just, they lived in the state at one point. So they, it's their team. It's not because they went to school there and like their passion is unbelievable. And I'm like, wait, you didn't even go to school over here. No, no, no. I didn't go to school at all. But my daddy knew somebody that did. Yeah.

i'm like wait your dad went no he didn't either so no one in your family ever went no sir to alabama no sir but you like your whole week your whole year is affected whether they win or lose like just angry the rest of the year whether they win or lose that like alabama tennessee game yes like that's it yes sir but it doesn't impact you like your job do you work for it but no i don't work sir but i cheer for the tide

I mean, they got that one guy, Roll Tide Willie now, and he was in the military with my dad's buddy. But what's your favorite place to play, do you think, in the SEC outside of Vaught-Hemingway? Well, I don't know about favorite because favorite would be like— Anarchal, right. It's anarchal for you guys. Yeah, you know, like favorite might be somewhere really easy. Like, no, the most intense places. Yeah, or just which one of you get out there and you're like, man, this is freaking majestic. How about that? Let's use that word.

This is why you have like such a different audience of like so many different areas of, cause like you use big words too. Oh yeah. Like, yeah, you're educated. Majestic. M-U-H-S. Majestic place. Yeah. What's a big, yeah. Neyland stadium in Tennessee is like amazing. Like it's just like when we would bring recruits there, it is majestic. Like there you go. Like, and then at night and then there's the river and the boats and then the intensity in there. So yeah,

i was the head coach here at old miss we went to play at tennessee and it was like on from warm-ups like everyone was there over a hundred thousand people and there was like this hatred towards me like i felt like the gladiator to movie you know like i was they're getting ready for like a thumbs down you know like let's kill them

And then it like, and it's probably 12,000 people are carrying weapons in there at that time. They had a real conversation with me during the week about bulletproof vests. Like, but again, like, there's no way guys, come on, man, it's football. And they're like, they had like three cops with me and everything. Like, like it's deer season, sir. They didn't really do that. Maybe like a golf ball, you know, they're going to throw at me or a bottle or something. Yeah. So they're walking in and I was like, this is awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

Like, now I could feel... Ooh. Yeah, they were, like, chanting, like, you know, like, fuck Lane Kiffin. Yeah. That was actually, like, felt kind of, like, intense and cool. Like, 100,000 people chanting that. Oh, yeah. If a bunch of people hate you at once, it's easier to go. It's easier to digest. And then the, like, student section was like, hey, you know, last night we were with your wife. And I was like, man, that's pretty funny, like, to come up with stuff, you know? Like, so it was intense. And it was like...

And it just kept building. So maybe like everybody didn't hate me at the beginning, but then, you know, it's like a crowd like storm. They feel it. And then the hatred just kept building. And then it was like really close game at then. And then we won. He has one. Yeah. And then they got pissed and they like threw things at me like,

golf ball and like anything they could get like mustard school books which we need in tennessee first of all they didn't they didn't have school books okay no mustard bottles oh like how do you even have a mustard bottle you just brought that to the game like hey hey we're gonna like go to the game and sneak the mustard bottle oh you're in the damn condiment belt over there isn't mustard free like like are you saving money

Oh, you should see where they keep their relish at, brother. And the golf, like, and I was like, they throw this golf ball that became famous that like they throw at me and I'm like, afterwards, I'm like, okay, muster. Like, okay, what am I sneaking in to the game? A golf, like, what do you have a golf ball for? Hmm.

like I'm carrying a golf balls. Cause I don't think they're thinking I'm going to throw it. Like I'm gonna be pissed off in the fourth quarter and throw it. Right. They just had it on them. Yeah. But then I look closer as a range ball. So I feel like, you know what it was? It's like the cheap guy that like steals the range ball. So like, okay, this way I didn't like have these to hit. Like, you know, instead of like having to buy a golf ball, so I'm gonna steal the range ball like for next time I go and play around. So it was just in his pocket. That was my guess. I think that's probably accurate. Oh, there you are. Oh, that's pretty cool. Yeah.

Um, did you keep that? Yeah. You still have it? I did. Hell yeah, dude. That's cool. How scary is it? How quick do you want to get off the field when you beat a team in their stadium? Um, is there a weird energy there for a little, like, is it kind of. That one was. Yeah. Yeah. That one definitely was. Um,

most of the time it's not really sometimes i kind of like it you know like kind of walk off a little slow you know just so like you feel that like that win that you just like ruined a hundred thousand people's like especially in the sec like week on this day oh yeah their traffic home yeah that's a lot and especially a woman who was going to give birth that way because her husband would be in a good mood and now they got she's got a hold in another week

That's the toughest part. Okay, we cannot have, we lost this week. Yeah, we ain't having a baby under these circumstances. You keep it in there. Yeah, yeah. Hold the line. We got Bama next week. We win that, you can have it Saturday night. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll get that thing out. We'll do the tush push. That'll help. What's one of the most aggravating traditions that you think and what's one of the best traditions you think in college football? If you're even up on them. I know there's a ton of them out there.

Well, this is like a big tradition, like as far as everywhere, not specific places. Like I love the band thing, you know, before, like it's just really cool when they have the band out there and they spell things. Speaking of the Tennessee, the opening of the T and then run out, like that was really cool to like see you're like right there. And then like the band just opens up the T and you run out. Like that's, that's a really cool tradition. And is there one that's kind of aggravating that you see at a place somewhere? It could be SEC or anywhere. Yeah.

The fan storming thing is a little bit tough. You know, like they don't do it in the NFL. They found a way. Like I get it. It's pretty cool. But then it can be aggravating because like they're storming and like, then you're worried about like I'm hitting you. What's going on? What are they going to do? It's like very, very invasive at that point. But I think like if they could just let everybody out and then let the fans on so they still get to tear the goalpost down because that's the school and stuff. Yeah.

Yeah, I was at the Alabama-Vanderbilt game, and that was pretty sick. And some guy on the sideline squeezed me so hard, bruised one of my ribs really bad or dislocated it, right? So I was like...

doing like that or whatever. And then every other player kept hugging me. So it was just, just one after the other, just the biggest guys you ever even seen just hugging you. Yeah. They're all excited. Yeah. And it was just, Oh dude, it was, that was a really tough day. It was a tough year actually. That took about eight weeks to get better from. Yeah. But you were at a historic like moment. It was so cool. That will probably never happen ever again. I don't know.

I want to see. It was a once in a lifetime. Well, Diego Pavia got that sixth year, that eighth year, I think he got. Yeah, you never know. Did that, were you surprised when he got that? Did it affect any of the way that, were your players able to apply for anything like that? We tried. We didn't win it. Jack Starr actually tried to get another year or at least see if the option was there and, you know, they denied it. Dang. There we are. We iced that dude up. Clark Lee.

Good dude. I like, I like Clark. Yeah. He is a good guy. They got a fun group over there and that's kind of an underdog energy over there too. You know, is there an sec team that you also cheer for on the low kind of them? I do. Yeah. Vanderbilt. Cause I think they have like so much stacked against them, you know, like they got higher academic qualifications to get guys in. So they can't just get all the players. Everybody else can, you know, like,

um, harder, you know, because the stadium's usually half full and stuff. So, um, I, I root for them, especially Clark because that's a hard job. Yeah. And so that's, that's pretty cool for them to win like they did this year.

Yeah, it's exciting over there. Yeah, they carry the goalposts and then they try to valet park the goalposts. I heard they got tired of it or whatever. I didn't know that. And they try to valet them at a restaurant. I'm like, you can't, who are you going to give it to those three guys up front or whatever? Like, that's crazy. Yeah, but that might be the only like SEC town that has valet. That's a good, that's a good point. Like when you say that, that doesn't feel, there ain't no valet in most of these towns, valet. That's a great point. Spell valet. Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, they tried to valet him at a, I think at a McCormick and Schmicks or something over there. So definitely kind of interesting. I want to talk about Coach Saban. You worked with Coach Saban for a while. I mean, you guys have had like kind of a storied history over the years, I think. Do you guys still communicate? - Yeah. Yeah, we do. He's not a big like text guy, but we talk every once in a while.

Is he, what is he, he's not texting, he's like to write, is he more written kind of or? No, you got to call him. Okay. He did just learn how in the last like two years, two texts, he had never texted before. Wow. Ever. Like when I was assisting coach Sarah, he's just like, I'm not texting. Like he just refused. It was like that old school. Like he's got those old school things that aren't changing. And, um,

And then I like got a text like two years ago from that said, good luck or something like that. And I was like to the group, I was like, dude, I got a saving text. Like, this is amazing. This is like, yeah, about beating Alabama. Like this isn't supposed to happen. Never thought I'd see this day. And, um, and then Kirby's like, yeah, I got one or this year too. Like he's like learned how to text just like you get one or two words, but, but that relationship's like,

almost in a way kind of like how you can struggle sometimes, like maybe when you're in it with like a parent and then you get out, like you get older and you get away, get out of the house. Yeah. And then you're like, dang, man, he, he was onto something. He was right on those things. So I look back at, I was there for three years.

And there was friction initially. And I look back, there's all my, I'm the assistant. I, you know what I mean? Like he's the head coach, you know, whatever he says goes. Oh yeah. You supposed to keep it classy over there. Yes. And that's not, his way is very like, this is the way, like there's not open discussions about it and stuff. And, and I was, I'd worked for Pete Carroll as assistants. That's all I knew. And I,

It's just totally different. So like you come in, you have an open conversation and you're questioning the process. No, I just was asking like, have we looked at this? You know, like, so I didn't really know how it worked right away. And so it took a little bit of time. Like he didn't want a lot of suggestions. No, no, no, no. It's not like a suggestion box. Like, Hey, let me pull this. Oh, here, here's a good idea. You know, like, so it was, it was just something I wasn't used to that way. And so it took a little bit of time, but now that I look back, I'm like, okay, he was,

so strict on everything kind of like in apparent way, like with his team, with the players, the coaches, like nothing, nothing changed. Even when we won national championship and there's seven 30 staff meeting the next morning, I'm like, what are we meeting on at seven 30 the next morning? He's like, we're behind, you know, because we won the championship, everybody else was recruiting or behind. And I was like, well, what are we doing? But now I look back and be like, that's why he is what he is. That's why he was so great. Cause it was like the standard never changed no matter what.

And then that took me some time to understand too, like when you, when we were winning and playing really well and coaching really well, he was harder on you because he didn't want you to have relief syndrome. You know, like, oh man, we've made it. And I didn't really understand that. Would he call it that, relief syndrome? I saw, he was on the pivot like a month ago and I listened to it with my son Knox and he talked about it in there. He'd never explained it to us, but it was interesting to hear. And he said, most people are born with a relief syndrome. He wasn't.

He just always had this way of thinking like, hey, you never relax. Like, but most people are. So he went above and beyond to make sure people didn't have that. Like we'd win a game and then he comes in and just like rips us. Yeah. And we're like, man, we played great. Like coach, great. That was because he was guarding against that because he knew that that could happen. Dang. Yeah. He wasn't letting anything be a possibility. When I left, we'd won 26 straight games. So I'd only hadn't had many losses.

But I do remember the three losses that we had over the three years. Like, he actually, after those, was calm. Like, that's when we didn't get ripped. Because he's like, they're going to get ripped anyway. I don't need to. You know? Like, I need to, when they're feeling good about themselves, bring him down. So, I didn't really understand that at first. And now, I look back going, man, he was... There's a reason he's the greatest. Wow. Yeah, do you regard him as the greatest? Yeah? I do. I think because...

you know, to bear Bryant's to like legends back then, no offense. They had like unlimited scholarships. Coach Saban did an error where there were reduced scholarship numbers. He also did an error when you're losing coaches left and right. You know, he lost so many assistant coaches and he just kept winning. And I don't think anybody will ever be able to do that again. And, and,

He couldn't even do that again, the way that it's going anyway. And now this with the money part and all that stuff, that's, that's like evening things out that people can't stack the teams like he did because now your second team and third teams, maybe before where they had to sit there and wait, they, they couldn't leave back then.

Now they leave. So you lose your backups because someone gives them more money. But how was he able to convince players to sit there, be just as good, and sit second or third position? That's tough, I feel like. Yeah. Well, that's what I'm saying. Part of his time, they couldn't leave yet. You couldn't transfer. Now you can transfer twice a year. So he still was able at the end to convince some guys to stay, but he started losing so the teams weren't as deep. Yeah.

Did he have to recruit the whole time or at a certain point did the acumen of their coach, of their winning just be the recruiter for him, do you think? That helped a lot, but he never changed. That was him. Like there was no relief. It never changed. Like he recruited every day, no matter what. And he was nonstop and he was relentless. People always say, okay, well, why did he win so many championships? Why was he so good? And I was like, well, there's the process. There's the assistant coaches. There's the discipline, all these different areas. Right.

But really the number one thing that mattered the most, he out-recruited people. He got better players. When you get better players, you win a lot of games. It wasn't just coming there just to come there. They came there because he recruited really hard. Got it. What was he like? I mean, did you ever get to spend any time with him? Like, was he good at cards or anything like that? Or did he do anything else besides, like, did he ever take his whistle off, you think? Like even in the shower, you know?

um coach didn't do a lot of other things i know he golfed i never golfed with him but he golfed um did he ever invite you or did he ever dress up for halloween like was there anything you ever saw coach saban do that was like felt a little bit more not as much like um who's that guy robert downey jr what's the character he plays iron that was outside of iron man you know

It's interesting, you know, Nick Saban and people would joke Nick Satan, you know, he was born on Halloween. Was he really? His birthday every year is Halloween. Oh, yeah. So maybe his whole fricking existence was a costume. Maybe, but he did not, there was not, he wasn't going to wear a costume or something like that on Halloween. So there was no like, he didn't have like Halloween parties. On your own birthday, even put on a little cat tail or something. Because it was, no day was different. Every day was the same.

I will say this. I went to Easter one time at his house. And my kids, they were still living in California with my wife. And because I took the Alabama job. And then they came for Easter. Yeah. And he invited us over. And we went over there. And he was different. Now, he didn't put on like a bunny costume. But...

Like he was helping the kids with like the Easter eggs and he had one grandkid at the time. And he was like carrying around and like, and it was totally different than the office Nick Saban that we would see all the time. You know, like, so that, that was pretty cool to see that side of him. Now he's also so competitive that he,

His grandkid was like one. And all of a sudden, the grandkid found the golden egg, you know, like while he was with coach way over there, you know. So coach also was going to make sure that he won. Yeah. But it was pretty cool to see him like that. Yeah. Yeah. You got to be different. You can't when Jesus is making a comeback, you can't play defense on that day. You know, that's when you got to just.

call the dogs off, I feel like. But it is definitely skeptical that a one-year-old found a golden egg. Was he playing against other kids, like of age children? Yeah, mine were like eight, 10 and 12. Oh God. That's sad. But yeah, winners win, you know, that's what they say. Do you think that, um, coach Saban misses coaching? I do. Um,

I think that, and he mentioned that in that pivot podcast, but I did always think, okay, if he was going to do this, he was going to have to have, and I used to say he's going to have to kind of have that college game day spot because he's going to want to still like be involved. You know, he's just so wired all day long to do something for his entire life. Now he's not going to sit around and just...

you know, be a grandpa. Yeah. That's not him. So I think because of that, that's helped a lot. I wouldn't actually be surprised if he came back in the NFL, even, you know, his head coach, because he just, he's so good at it. And so in him that I'm not sure he won't come back.

I want to talk about the NIL and then I want to talk about your team and Ole Miss here. Does, God, I sound like a sports guy or something. What am I even doing today? Yeah, you're getting really like. I know, sad. I feel like going into this, we were going to go a lot of different directions and now you've come back to like, I think people are probably turned off by now. I know. Oh, dude, hey. Tell us about your depth at safety this year. Yeah. How do you guys feel about third down package? Yeah.

Nobody wants to hear that. I don't know. My first down package is pretty small. I'll tell you that. That's an old wiener joke. Here we go. Now we're more. There we go. Yes, they're turning back on. I want to tell you about the NIL. Do you have to spend more time recruiting players or boosters these days with NIL? Yeah. A lot of booster part because they got to get their resources to pay. Now that's going to get a little bit moved now with revenue sharing and coming from the school. But

these last few years has been, okay, well, the boosters have to create these collectives and have to source the money to pay the players. So if you don't have the money, you don't have the payroll, it's hard to get players. And if you see, it's not hard. Look at who just won in basketball, the programs that made the final four, look at what, you know, the final four college football teams, like they're major programs that have a lot of financial resources. So yeah, you gotta, you gotta do a lot of that. And then you gotta convince the players now that,

Where it's different is the old school, unfortunately, kind of the old school recruiting of the relationships and having a relationship three years since the kid was a sophomore in high school and stuff. It's not as important anymore because now I'm like, okay, well, what are you paying me? You know, the school is this, the school is this, the school is this. And most of them usually go to the higher school.

higher number. And is that just a real question out of the gate is what is the offer? Yeah. Wow. And do most of them have agents or they have to do that directly by themselves? Yeah, they now it's now just transitioned to where most of them agents. Oh, that's trash. It's really, you know, we're in my office right here. So I sit here all the time and the recruits sit over there where your guys are and the parents and I said this to our staff the other day, like I've sat in so many of these meetings, like whatever, say the last hundred,

And you know, I never hear anymore, what's your graduation rate? I never hear anymore, like, what's the academic plan? And it's just kind of sad. These are the parents. It just is what it is. And then I go, okay, well, when's our NIL meeting? Yeah. What's the number? What's the second year number? Like, I'm not mad about it, but it's just kind of sad. You just recognize it. And I'm also recognizing it to say...

I don't believe long-term that's good for the kids. So this has been great for players to make some money, but it's so much money and it's so much focus on the money that then it's like, okay, well, then what's next? If I'm already getting the money when I'm 18, then what? Right. You've seen this all the time. People get too much too early. And then what? They crash. Crash out. Yes. And I feel like we're creating a lot of that in this. And now a kid's sitting there listening to his parents and they want to know the money. Like,

So what's the kid supposed to want to know? Yeah, it's crazy. I agree. Yeah, it's bonkers, dude. Yeah, if I'd have had some money, I'd have fucking left school the second you gave me that chat. I'd have driven across country and got me some damn dope, boy. But I'm sure at that time you thought, man, if I just had a million dollars, man, I'd have no problems. Yeah. Yeah. Then life would be great. I heard all the time with these players. I just get money, man. Players, I hear from adults. If I get money, man, all my problems, then I'll be good.

Okay. We'll see. We'll see. And I go in the homes and recruiting over all these years. I see the most problems in the families with the most money, most money, most success. And then I don't feel any warmth in that room. I don't feel the connection with the kids. Like, and then I'll go to a house here in Mississippi or Louisiana, you know, and there'll be 10 people living in this two bedroom house.

And you just feel like the warmth and like the closeness and everything. And then you got hardly anything financially, but then they have this love and this family. And I just done this for a long time. And I see it usually the other way around bigger, the houses, the more cars, the more money, the more problems. Yeah. Yeah. That's what they said. Jay-Z said it, didn't he? Biggie said it. Somebody. Yeah. Whoever said it got murdered. I remember that. Um,

You know, April is financial literacy month, and that makes me think, well, how did I first learn about money? Well, I guess, well, I got a little job that a lady paid me to catch these cats she had, and she gave me a little bit of money, and I would take that money and I would store it. I had one of those Crown Royal bags, one of the purple bags that came in, and I'd put all my money in there and save it. Today's episode is sponsored by Acorns.

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Mm. Their minds. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of them run fast, jump, throw, and it's their minds and then getting in their own way. You know, and then here comes this, now you got money too. Here comes this ego coming in because I'm a five star. I got all these scholarship offers, like the entitlement of that and the ego comes in and out. Now they got the money too. So it's like they had this drive to get to the NFL because they want to play in the NFL and they want to get the money. Well, I'm getting the money already. So now that's

Now I've lost some drive there. Right. And they just get in their own ways, you know, and they get so much attention so early and so much. And then it's like, they just think it's going to last forever. Yeah. And they just like, they just screwed up. So they get in their own ways. Dang. And it's usually that one word ego. Um, what's the craziest thing a player's ever asked you for? It's like point blank. Have they ever been like, I need a, uh,

Give me a Jaguar coach or something like that. Like the animal or the car. Not the animal. I wouldn't say crazy. Like, I don't have a good story, like a crazy thing, you know, like, but it just, what continues to blow my mind in nowadays is they want more when they haven't done anything new. Meaning like, okay, here's what I got. I got this to come, you know, to transfer, to come around to high school. And then they come in like, okay, well, I need more. And they're like, well, you didn't do anything. Like, you didn't have a good year.

Well, why would you get more? Like, it's just that mindset of like, I just deserve more. Like, I deserve more and more because there's no appreciation in there for where they're at. Or like, man, I got to play better to get more. Just, I'm supposed to get more. And that happens.

All the time, there's two transfer portal windows. So like, if you could negotiate your contract twice a year, every year, but then for six months, you haven't done a show. You haven't done anything. But after that six-month period, you want a new contract and a new deal bigger than what you had, but you hadn't done anything. Yeah. Or maybe you screwed the shows up. Right. Through interceptions, but you still want more. So it's just, and it's not even their fault. There's the parents. Now you got agents. Like, do you still feel like a coach? Do you feel like a banker more? Mm-hmm.

It's not really like a banker, but you spend so much time not coaching. And I think that's part of the Nick Saban and getting out. It's just like, it just changed because these conversations, these things, and you see the greed for it. But it's unique because from someone that's been fortunate to make money, have success, get to the highest levels, like

It's like, I keep trying to tell them like, that's not going to be the answer. Right. Like that new contract, getting that much more money isn't going to change anything. You're not going to, you know, be happier because of, but it's like, they don't, you can't hear it. Yes. Kids can't hear it. I can sit in these two chairs right here to some, some, most of them, some will, but most of them. And they just look at me like, there's no one. I'm like,

Listen to me until you fix these internal problems, until you fix how you think that everybody's against you or whatever is these issues that they each have. And I'll try to like work through them. I'm like that, that money, that new contract, that next car, that next girl, like that's not going to fix that. And like, if I get picked in the first round, I got that contract. Everything is fixed. Yeah. Coach. I don't care what you say. Trust me.

Yeah, they say it's all a wrap. Yeah, everybody thinks they'll have it figured out. I get more bands, it's good. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, boy, give me a grand right now. That's all I need. I run a 50 right now. I run a 6150. How fast is that? 6150. We don't really grade. You mean 40? I don't know.

That's good. You confuse people. It might be good. It might be bad. I don't know if you're slow or fast. So what is some of your push for players to come here to Ole Miss easy? He's like, what is it?

you know, what do you sell them on about being here? Yeah. This is a really cool place to go to school. And so I got to see that as a parent, my daughter Landry's a sophomore here. So, Oh yeah. I seen her on Tik TOK before I seen y'all on there doing makeup or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Like, just like I said, the social media thing, I kind of live like a young person in a lot of ways, like just,

enjoy yeah you know like i just try to have joy and i'm like again back to a lot of people like you're supposed to be old you're supposed to be an adult like you can't do like a makeup tiktok with your daughter and i'm like i'm gonna be gone someday i'm gonna be dead or i'm gonna be at the end of it you know those last couple years you think i'm gonna be like man i wish i was right there yeah i think i'm gonna be like man i wish i wouldn't have done that with my daughter because some fans think that's like i'm soft

Yeah, dude. I think a lot of – also a lot of – I bet four of the first-round picks this year will be wearing blush. Like now they're wearing like nail polish and stuff. Oh, have them wear nail polish, eyeliner, booty liner some guy had on the other day. They caught him. Some guy I think that played for Northwestern or Nickel State or something. And I'm like, what is that? Who's putting rouge on their butt cheeks? So I think you're way safe here, Coach. But that's just kind of like how I –

And I don't know, like, it seems like you have that too, where it's kind of like, man, we're supposed to be growing up and there's certain aspects we are, but then these other areas, it's like, what's wrong with having youthful fun? And, you know, like we go out and play pickleball and somebody's like, I see some old people look at me like, man, he's playing out there with his kids. And like, he's like dancing to the music, you know, to like,

Taylor Swift playing or something, you know, like, I'm like, why? Just because I'm like getting older. I'm not supposed to like have fun. Yeah. You know, or like when you come to yoga in the morning and like, we're crushing you in yoga and I'm kind of like dancing back, like talking shit, celebrating over you. Like if that happens in the morning, you might crush it in the morning. I don't know.

I mean, look, I don't want to have to do yoga or have to wear cleats is the only thing that I'm thinking. There's no cleats. No cleats. No socks even. But no, I think you're right, man. Yeah, I think, well, it also goes back to what you said. It's like, you know, you don't like to follow this old playbook about things. You like to have this new playbook about things. What's kind of like part of that that you offer your players or people that want to come down here? Do you sell them like, hey, this is a team that's like, this is a program that's obviously it's gone. You know, the trajectory has gone up, you know, especially in the past five years for sure in the past decade or so.

Yeah. What do you kind of push them on? How do you get players to come here to Ole Miss? Because it's always been a little bit more of the underdog in the SEC. Yeah.

I think the kids really like, we create an atmosphere that you want to be at, not have to. Same with our employees. You know, like I feel like in the morning, if you ask them when they're getting up and they're driving their cars over, whether it's players or staff, like they want to be here. Yeah, the GM had a damn zen in, I think. Yeah, yeah, he does. He's working on it. Yeah. He's trying to quit. He's trying to quit some other things. Yeah, we've all been through things, Coach. Been there, done that. Yeah.

But that atmosphere of comfortable and like the players, like I've been around both and I've been around as an employee where you're miserable driving in like another day. Like, and it's just like, to me, you're not very productive that way. Like I want our players to come here and like they play their own playlists, like in practice and stuff, you know, like it's a player's team with discipline and,

But the same thing around the office. Like people, we don't even have hours. Like you don't even have like, you leave when you're done with your work. You don't have like, okay, you leave at this time. Cause then people just sit there and guard their desk, you know, until the time goes. So I just try to create an atmosphere that people really want to be at. And they have a lot of fun doing it. And it's really, to me, it's awesome if you can win and have fun.

Because some programs, like, they win, but they're still miserable. And I've seen that. So we try to create this atmosphere, and I think people love it. Is it tough to be, like, a coach and a dad? Because you have three children, right? And is it tough to be, like, a coach and a dad and a coach and a husband? Like, what's that—what is the cross of, like, those jobs like for a coach? Because it takes a lot of time. Yeah. Yeah.

I think like a lot of questions, I answer them differently now than I did five, 10, 15 years ago. I think, you know, as I look back and I use my failures and experiences now, it's awesome because I get to use to help others. Yeah. And I help our players when they're going through it. So I liked that. I had a lot of stuff happen to me or self-inflicted stuff. Oh yeah. That like,

I struggled for a long time. But then as I like now see, like I get to help, like, cause the coach knows my story or players and they come in and I can help them with things. Like when you say, okay, how did like the balance of a husband, father and head coach? Well, I failed at that because I'm as a head coach, like I was a head coach, Tennessee USC. And I was like, that was my higher power. And I'm the head coach USC. Yeah.

that's who i am not like oh i'm a husband not i'm a father like that became my higher power that was the most important thing to me and i could feel it because i'd be like oh we'd win so then like the la time sunday morning man coach lane kiffin you know like and like what do you want and i remember him asking me like what do you want someday i'm like a statue like nick saban

because then I made it. Like they built a statue of me because I won so many games and championships. Yeah. That's what I want. But I was totally missing it. Because if you ask me that now, what do you want? You know what I want? I want to be a really good dad. I want to be a really good boss, a really good friend, a really good neighbor. The other stuff happens with the wins. That's fine. But I was so focused on that, that it...

It controlled everything. I just slept at the office all week long because like we had to win. That's all that matters. And like John Daly used to sleep at a Hooters. Yeah, that was a little different. Yeah, that's true. He didn't work there. It's not like he was, you know, working on chipping at Hooters. Yeah, that's true. It's a short game. Yeah, that's a good point. So I don't know why I said that, but yeah, people sleep at the office. Yeah.

I think John Daly still goes to Hooters for like John Daly two hour, like signing special. I love JD by the way. He's awesome. He's awesome. We tell, no, we talk about him every single week. There he is right there. Yes. Yeah. Oh, he's got a, he's got that two pack. Right. Well, he's off a couple of honey packs right there. Look at him.

Yeah, that's where I won't comment, head coach. Okay. Okay. So anyway, so that's where this failure came in because it was like, okay, if you're going to put all, if this is the most important thing to you, then I like look back and shoot, no wonder like I ended up getting divorced. No wonder that, you know, I ended up having a straining relationship with my kids. And then I kind of figured this out later on and started going, okay, wait, wait, wait a second. This is just part of who I am, you know, being a coach.

And then I started to work on the other areas of my life. Got sober from a lot of things, really. Just not just physical sober, like stop drinking, but like emotionally sober, you know, like, and that's still a constant battle, like working on that, like, and things not making me go way up, way down, like every day. But, and people say, okay, well, what do you do? You don't drink. Like, what do you do like Thursday? And I was like,

what's replaced that is like amazing. Like going to dinner with Landry or watch a movie with her friends. Like, you know, like you just, I just had this shift and it really helped me. And actually I'm a better coach out of it, which you wouldn't think would be like, cause you think, okay, well, if you put everything into it, but then you lose balance and you're just kind of off and everything is so defined on a win or loss that like, it's everything. I remember like

losing a really, really important game. And I remember at the time, like, seeing why she's like, and I'm like, I don't want to wake up. We actually lost USC. We lost to Texas. We were in our third straight national championship and lost in the Rose Bowl national championship. Vince Young couldn't tackle him. And I'm like, I don't want to wake up tomorrow. She said, what is wrong with you? We had one kid at the time, Landry. And she's like, you have a kid, like you have a whole life. Like,

we lost the game third straight national championship how how long is it going to take to ever get there again yeah but i was just so out of whack on that um because that's i mentioned earlier that the ego had gotten so big when i became a head coach and all the money and success and attention that like it just built and like you got to keep feeding it and so it's really been cool to to get out of that spot yeah and what do you attribute to helping you get out of it probably

lifestyle change. Um, you know, I came to Mississippi and decided like, okay, I started eating more food, not working out. Like, um, and I just was like, man, I'm not the best version of myself. I didn't have this like rock bottom moment, you know, that people have. Sometimes I just was like, man, I don't really like this lower version of myself. I want to be the highest version of myself. So I changed my diet. I stopped the alcohol. I started working out. Um,

And really what I started to do is to pour into other people instead of just pouring into myself. Dang, coach, you're making me feel bad about my life, bro. You're younger than me. You're still good there. It's a daily battle.

It is, man. And especially that emotional sobriety. That's my biggest issue, dude. I mean, I have a certain emotion and I get literally drunk off of it or high off of it. Or the other way, I get depressed. It's like those are like my drugs a lot of times. Any feeling that I have? I'm still there. Like, that's a daily battle. God, boy. And I really got on this after the physical sobriety after a couple years of, okay, well, okay.

okay, I got really healthy working out all the time and don't drink. But it was like, okay, but I still was letting people situations like, man, well, that went my way. So everything's good. Yeah. You know, like, oh, that didn't go that way. We lose that recruit or have an argument with this person. And like, everything's terrible. And I was like, man, and I had somebody tell me like, remember the tide goes in and out every day. Like it's going to.

And like, do you just get freaked out by that? Or are you just like, hey, the tide came in, tide went out. And so I really try to do that.

Because like, I'll do the yoga. Everything's good, man. And then I'll come in here and then this player has this issue, you know, or a kid has this issue, you know, and then it's like, or this doesn't go this way. Especially like, if you're like me, which I feel like you are from your last answer, when somebody doesn't do what you want them to do. Like, wait, everything would be good, man. If he just wouldn't say that. Sorry, and I'll bleep this. If she does this, if he does that, and they do that, I'll be good. Yeah. Well, wait, that's...

They don't. And it never is going to happen. It's just total unrealistic expectations of what I have a lot of times. Yeah. And that's one of my biggest things is unrealistic expectations. Like expecting the tide not to come in. Yes. Or expecting everybody to do things exactly. I want to expect that people know how I want things done after I haven't shared how I want them done. That's my biggest thing.

Like expecting somebody to know what I want them to do, but I've never even told them exactly what I want. Yeah. And that's a crazy person would think that way. So yeah. Or I did this. I'm not doing it. And then they don't deal. And then they don't.

They don't act how I want them to act after what I did. Yeah. Haven't I, haven't I, have you been, haven't I let shared with you? Yeah. Yeah. But there is a major problem that when you become, and you're in charge of company, your head coach, you know, like, and all the people are working for you. So your whole day, they really are doing what you want. And then now in your personal life outside of it, maybe somebody doesn't do what you want.

and then you lose your mind. That's where I was off with the emotional part. - Yeah. - You know, and had to like work on that part.

Yeah, I can't imagine I'm going to be a coach. It would be hard. I can't even coach myself. Oh, so you've really taken the Oxford coach. I noticed that your son is moving here, right? Is that true? Yeah. So my daughter goes to school here. Okay. And she's a sophomore. She's a sophomore. Okay. My other daughter's going to college at USC. And then my son is moving here. He's actually on a spring break here right now. And he's moving here next month. And he's going to go to Oxford High? He is. Nice. Yeah.

And he plays football too or no? He does. Yeah. Yeah. He's he's quarterback. He's got a chance to be good. So that'll be exciting to be able to watch all his games here. And he's always up here working out with his buddies. So. Oh, that's going to be great just to be around that much that many other players and stuff. It's awesome. I was my dad was a coach. I grew up as a coach's kid that to

to be around those locker rooms and to be around those players and to learn from them, it's so awesome and so motivating. - Yeah. Do you have a good relationship with your dad? I know your dad was Monty Kiffin. - Yep. - And did you guys have a good relationship? - Amazing. - Oh, nice. - So he passed in July and- - Was he sick? Was he pretty sick at the end of his life? - He had dementia and so he slowed down a lot. But here's what's really cool. You know, just saying like the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

We probably have the pain of regret from things we weren't disciplined at in life. You know, if you look back, man, if I would have done that or like I would have got, you know, made different decisions. So now we have the pain of the regret of that. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of times people with parents sometimes like when they pass, you know, they have the pain of regret. Man, we should have been around them more. I didn't go to see them. Well, my dad worked for me.

All the way up until then at 84. So all these last three stops, he was here in the building helping us coach. Oh, that's cool. So every day I would see him 15 times a day. Yeah. And he was such a coach that like, even his doctors would say that was keeping him alive because he could come into the office every day. He was 84 years old with dementia, still coming in the office. Yeah. And he just was like, he was the ultimate coach, the old school coach. And so-

I got to be with him every day all the way up. So because of that, of bringing him to all the places, making sure he was at work every day and everything like. That was here at Ole Miss. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So if you don't come here, who knows if that even set up is even kind of perfect for that. Yeah. But that's, that's where I've gotten to like,

who knows what's supposed to be perfect? What I thought, what we thought as our plan should be, I was like totally off. You know, like I'd have been like, there's no way I'm going to like want to move to Oxford, Mississippi, have my kid go to college here, have my other kid go to high school here and love it. And now I do. And who would have thought they would have ever wanted to come here? Like, it's like,

You know, God's plan obviously makes a lot more sense than ours. Because every time I take that and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, maybe he wants it. Let me turn that over here. Oh, yeah. My way. This is what I want to happen. Like, these people need to do this. I need to go here. I need to get that job. Let me control everything. Yes. Yeah. And then it just doesn't work. It really doesn't. And then when I just, which is hard, when I just let go and just let it go and whatever's going to happen is going to happen. Yeah.

that tide's gonna come in it's gonna go out i'll just float along with it the hov lane dude what um who caught that clipboard do you know i don't know they brought it back they did yes mississippi nice oh so sweet of them told you the people here are amazing

God, that was great. There's nothing as good as that. Because it's like when the plays work, it's like a video game. I feel like I'm playing a video game on the sideline. So think like when you're playing a video game, you throw your controller. That's really what I'm doing. It's still the kid in me right there. You know, like throw my clipboard like your controller. Out of the box. You've had quite a life, you know. You started kind of...

you know, you didn't start, but you kind of came on a lot of people's radar in coaching at the highest level, right? Step back into college football. Um, you've been a player, you've, uh,

you know, you've had like you kind of a polarizing people would say type figure, very unique in your own way. And I think after talking to him, I learned a little bit more about how you operate so I can understand. But what is like a message you would get? You know, you've had, you've been through divorce, you've been through, you have children, you've had a lot of just experiences in your life. What, what,

For somebody out there who's getting into their middle age and is kind of struggling with having a setback or something, what is something you think you would share with them from your experience or a thought or statement? Yeah, yeah.

I think that like they can do it. Like these things happen, you know, in life, these major obstacles that seem so horrible at the time, a divorce, firings, maybe you have a health scare, like these things that seem so terrible, but

And they're really not. They just feel like it in the moment. And they're going to pass. And you're going to actually look back later on and be glad for them. Like, my kind of major thing was I got fired as a head coach at USC. And, like, my career is over. Well, if that wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't have gotten to work for Nick Saban for three years. You know, so, like, whatever those things are or... Yeah, your career's been over, like, four times. Yeah. That you can do it. And it's actually...

feels way better than like, let's say you come out, like I came up and got a lot of breaks because my dad and stuff. And so it's like, okay, I got to the top.

Okay, well, that felt good. But then to actually have it torn down and all taken away, some by circumstance, some by your own decisions, and rebuild from the bottom personally and professionally, it feels so much better. It's like instead of buying the house, you build the house from the beginning. And so just for people that are struggling in whatever one of those areas may be, like you can do it, but don't get overwhelmed. Like it really is one day at a time. Like, hey, just...

Start working out today, you know, or stop drinking today, you know, or start being a better person today. Whatever those areas are. Yeah, just today. Just today, man, because other stuff's overwhelming. We don't know what's going to happen next week or next month or next year. And just be really good at it today.

Hey man, man, I needed to hear that. Yeah. There's something I've been like, I just feel like kind of the world is ending because it's something that's kind of like just work stuff. And I'm like, what do I do? But I just have to look at it as a challenge, adjust the perspective. Zoom out. Yeah. Zoom out. See, so watching my dad pass through and the last couple of years of dementia, but also watching him on what was important to him. He'd been a head coach. He'd been fired. He'd been through all these, it didn't matter. Like what, whatever that is right now that you're showing, you're going to look back to

toward them like what was I even like losing sleep for or having anxiety about that for it really ain't that big if you zoom out to later on you're gonna look back and be like man that wasn't a big deal I'm glad it happened

Hotty toddy, man. Hotty toddy. Lane Kiffin, thanks so much, dude. I really appreciate it. I hope that you stay as entertaining as ever. And I'm glad that you're in the SEC, man. It's one of the greatest conferences to watch. And congratulations on what you guys have done here at Ole Miss, man. I want to thank my friend Scott Sackfield and Richie Heick who helped me think up questions today to talk about as well because they went to school here.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to having a good show here tonight. Yeah, excited for your show tonight. We'll be there, and our whole team's coming, actually. Yeah, the whole team's coming. Oh, dude.

- Yeah, we told them in the team, we had a team meeting today and said, "We're going tonight." We're like, "We got you in free." So like, "Yes, 'cause we don't have any money." We're like, "Wait, you make like a million dollars." Like these guys know. But they still just want something for free. - Hey, look. - Yeah, we told them you're really funny and free. 'Cause I was something to know you were. - At the end, they're still college students. You just want something for free, you know? Lane Kiffin, thanks so much. - All right, man. ♪ Now I'm just falling on the breeze ♪ ♪ And I feel I'm falling like these leaves I must be ♪

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