Lane Kiffin pays homage to his father amid uncertain coaching future originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Lane Kiffin sat alone in his Oxford, Mississippi office long after another rivalry win had settled with the Egg Bowl trophy resting on a side table like a monument to both accomplishment and crossroads. The victory punched a historic benchmark with an 11-1 regular season, a program first for Ole Miss. But the celebration was incomplete.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMonte Kiffin, the legendary defensive coordinator who helped architect some of football’s most influential schemes, was no longer there to share it.
And now, on the eve of potentially the biggest decision of Lane Kiffin’s coaching life — whether to remain at Ole Miss or accept the opportunity to lead LSU — the absence is heavier than any game plan, contract, or playoff projection.
Kiffin’s social media tribute early Saturday morning after the 38-19 win over Mississippi State was more than nostalgia. It was evidence of a moment he has faced repeatedly throughout his career. When the stakes rise, the instinct is to reach for his father.
“At the office now,” Kiffin wrote online alongside an image of a drawing depicting Monte and the Egg Bowl trophy. “Pops thumbs up!! Wish I could hug you right now and you could guide me. Love ya.”
The tweet was raw and personal, the kind of candid admission Kiffin has rarely delivered at any podium but often shares by phone call to his inner circle. He has spoken openly in recent weeks about the difficulty of life decisions without his father’s counsel.
“I’m not trying to get pity, but it’s not as enjoyable as maybe some people think,” Kiffin said Friday. “So my two calls would be the closest two to dad for advice. What my dad would say to do. It would be coach (Pete) Carroll and coach (Nick) Saban. I kind of wish when you have things to do in life, you wish your dad was there.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe two coaches in Kiffin's corner
The consultations are a vital part of his coaching. Both football and life. Carroll gave Kiffin autonomy early, elevating him to offensive coordinator at USC during the Trojans’ peak. Saban introduced Kiffin to uncompromising discipline and national championship expectations at Alabama. The job that changed his career and public perception more dramatically than any comment or controversy before it.
But Monte Kiffin was the constant voice behind every transition — from Tennessee to USC, from the NFL back to college, from analyst roles back into coaching, and finally into the climb to SEC relevance at Ole Miss.
Monte coached under Lane at Tennessee in 2009, USC from 2010-12, Florida Atlantic from 2017-19, and later served as a personnel analyst at Ole Miss from 2020 until stepping away in 2023. The partnership was foundational. Monte’s reputation brought legitimacy to Lane’s early-stage hiring decisions. His defensive expertise brought practical value. And his counsel brought perspective to a son navigating a profession that offers none.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMonte died July 11, 2024, at age 84.
The week Saban would hand Kiffin the keys to Alabama’s offense — uncertainty swirled with the media questioning his temperament. Lane leaned on Monte to decipher the noise.
“He didn’t know for sure whether he had the job,” Monte said at the time. “He spent some time with coach Saban, but he had no idea for sure.”
In 2014, when Kiffin became Alabama’s offensive coordinator, Monte defended the character of a son publicly criticized for stirring controversy.
“I hear people calling him a jerk and a cheater, and I don’t like it,” Monte said then. “He will not cheat, I tell you that. You know who was guilty of the first secondary violation at Tennessee? Me. I’m learning, too.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe protector and conscience for his son
“Do you think I’m going to work for a jerk even if it is my son?” Monte said, pushing back on criticism. “If the guy is what everybody says he is, then I’d be the only one working for him. Coaches talk in this business. They know who is a good guy or a bad one.”
The defense followed Kiffin even further back, when Lane left Tennessee for USC — still in his 30s, still impulsive.
“USC called him,” Monte said then. USC was college football’s aristocracy. Tennessee was bruised, if not adrift. It was betrayal to some, opportunity to others, logic to none who had not coached 25 years in FBS.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“As for Lane saying some things he wants back — who doesn’t make mistakes?” Monte said.
Even when Lane committed to USC, Mark Sanchez would jab him. Even when Lane apologized to Urban Meyer for accusing Florida of recruiting violations, Tennessee fans treated it like a constitutional emergency.
But Monte always returned the conversation to perspective.
“I’ve known him 35 years from the start in the hospital,” Monte said. “And I think if you get to spend time with him and get to know him, you’ll love him, too.”
Tampa roots never fade
Twenty-five years earlier, Tampa was also the stage of Monte's NFL greatness, a city Lane would later return to end Ole Miss’ bowl drought, and one where father-and-son football destiny intersected again.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKiffin took over Ole Miss as head coach on Dec. 6, 2019. His 5-5 debut season during COVID-19 drew skepticism. Since then, the Rebels have posted double-digit wins in four of five seasons, producing a 55-19 record at Ole Miss, and a 117-53 mark as a college head coach across stops at Tennessee, USC, Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss.
And while Kiffin eliminated Florida from consideration on Friday, while choosing roots over uncertainty, the ghosts of guidance still converge in his office.
Monte’s portrait is noticeable. Beneath it, each game ball Lane earns might as well be a breadcrumb back to the shrine.
Where does Kiffin go from here?
Baton Rouge may promise national title resources and generational NIL packages. Oxford promises continuity and spiritual resonance. But amid all variables, Lane Kiffin is guided not by doubt, but absence.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMonte Kiffin may now be an ancestor. But in moments like these, Lane is no longer his father’s analyst or coordinator.
He is his father’s son. And in the quiet of Oxford — the final stop they coached together — he still is.
Lane Kiffin will soon declare his destination. But in Monte’s eyes, by any definition that ever mattered most, he already arrived. And Monte, if he could, would embrace him and say, "Well done."
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