SEC could reprimand Lane Kiffin over Vanity Fair comments

By Matt Moscona

The SEC is considering reprimanding LSU coach Lane Kiffin for recent comments in a Vanity Fair feature, according to a USA Today report.

The conference will hold its annual spring meetings this week in Florida.

Kiffin told USA Today, “People don’t read the actual words I used in the article. I said, ‘A parent said.’ That’s not me saying it as my opinion.”

The controversial comments referred to Ole Miss’s racial history being a negative in recruiting while Kiffin was the Rebels’ head coach.

“‘Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’ That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’s diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation.’”

A public reprimand could include a fine. Earlier this year, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope received a public reprimand and $25,000 fine for criticizing officials. Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher each received public reprimands in 2022 after an offseason verbal sparring match about violating NIL rules.

Kiffin coached the Rebels for six seasons before leaving in Decemeber for the rival Tigers amid the Rebels’ playoff run.