Lane Kiffin’s departure from the Ole Miss Rebels for the LSU Tigers continues to generate headlines months later, and they’re getting a bit more extraordinary by the day.
This time, those are arriving after claims about the Rebels’ efforts to protect the football program during the coaching transition, to the extent of supposedly involving the FBI.
Walker Jones, executive director of Ole Miss’ Grove Collective, recently said on the “Assorted Crackers Podcast” that the FBI came through Ole Miss’ football facility to search for surveillance devices after Kiffin’s exit, describing a tense atmosphere as the Rebels tried to prevent roster losses, in case players decided to follow Kiffin to LSU.
Those remarks quickly gained attention, forcing Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding to address the claims during his weekly press conference Monday.
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“No, there was no hiring process of, ‘Hey, let’s get the FBI in here, yeah, holy cow, and it like started looking around,'” Golding said. “No, it wasn’t anything like that.”
The head coach explained that heightened security measures were normal during a College Football Playoff run, making it clear the FBI wasn’t involved.
“Any bowl game or Playoff system obviously you’re going to up security,” Golding said. “I’m not sure that there was a hiring process of, ‘Here we go with the FBI!’ I think we probably have a current player whose dad just so happens to work for the FBI that lives in town… that, from that standpoint — there was no measure to go, ‘Oh my gosh, here come in, from that standpoint.'”
Golding acknowledged the program had reason to be cautious after multiple staff members departed for LSU alongside Kiffin, but stopped short of confirming Jones’ claims.
“Any time you get in that Playoff system and you had guys from this building go to other places, you want to make sure it’s secure for your players,” Golding said.
After Kiffin’s exit, only six Rebels players — including pending transfer Dae’Quan Wright — ultimately followed Kiffin to LSU, along with the former Ole Miss staffers.
The growing LSU-Ole Miss rivalry will see both teams meet on Sept. 19 in Oxford, where Kiffin and LSU will make their first return to face Golding and the Rebels since last season’s coaching change.
