When Lane Kiffin returned to the University of Tennessee as the opposing coach for the first time since his abrupt departure from the program in 2010, the Volunteer student section pelted him with mustard bottles, golf balls and beer cans. Tennessee fans littered the field, forcing a 20-minute halt in play.
Rebels, is that really how we want to be?
For a school whose students pride themselves on attending the “classiest school in the SEC,” we sure did not show much class at the University-Oxford Airport last November, when students held up middle fingers and yelled insults as Kiffin left for Baton Rouge, La.
With Kiffin now fully settled into his role at LSU, Ole Miss Football is embarking on a new era with Pete Golding as head coach. As we continue this journey under Golding’s leadership, it is time to leave the immaturity behind, even if Kiffin has not done so. We do not have to stoop to his level. We must move on.
Trashing the field does nothing but rack up fines for our university, make custodial and maintenance employees’ lives harder and give dirt to LSU fans so that they can trash talk us on social media.
Every time an Ole Miss fan posts about disliking LSU, Tiger fans immediately fill the comments with snarky remarks along the lines of, “We live rent-free in your head.” Kiffin made it very clear through his dramatic exit that he thrives on media attention. There is no need for us to give Kiffin any more unnecessary publicity, nor to supply his fans more material with which they can demean us online.
This Saturday, as you encounter those dressed in purple and gold in the Grove, do not jeer or curse, and certainly do not jeer or curse when Kiffin makes his way onto the field. Remember that you are representing something larger than yourself — the University of Mississippi, which has given so much to so many of us — and act in a way that demonstrates the respectable nature of this institution.
Rather than causing a ruckus, perhaps the student section could simply stay silent or give passive-aggressive applause when the Tigers come out to play; just think of how stunned the media, and Kiffin, would be if we did not display the anger they expect from us.
Maybe we should all try one of Kiffin’s favorite pastimes, hot yoga, to get our anger out (though it is unclear whether wellness is actually the reason he partakes in this activity).
Good luck on Saturday, Rebels, and Hotty Toddy!
MacKenzie McDaries is a junior sociology and Arabic major from Murfreesboro, Tenn.
