Dan Patrick: ‘I wish Lane [Kiffin] would take the high road’ with Ole Miss

There’s a long line of college football programs and fans who never thought Lane Kiffin would eat their faces, so to speak , but they forgot that a leopard can’t change its spots.

Ole Miss and its fans were the latest to learn that after Kiffin bailed on them in the middle of an undefeated season to take the head coaching job with rival LSU. There was much gnashing of teeth after the decision and the way it all went down . But as the 2026 college football season nears, there is perhaps hope that everyone can move forward.

That hope died this week when Kiffin, unprompted, told Vanity Fair that it was hard to convince the families of certain recruits to play in Oxford, Mississippi, and that there was much more diversity in Baton Rouge. In other words, the Deep South and Confederate iconography and history at Ole Miss were problems that he had solved by leaving for LSU.

Kiffin apologized on Tuesday and tried to make it clear that he had no ill will toward Ole Miss or his time there, but the damage was done. As he tends to do, Kiffin unnecessarily stoked resentment and reinforced his image as the villain among those who once called him coach.

Dan Patrick wishes that, in this instance, Kiffin could have just let bygones be bygones.

“I wish Lane would take the high road. I really wish he would have,” said Patrick on his show Tuesday. “That there can be a win-win that Ole Miss brought back into relevance, you know, playing in playoffs. It was good. Lane Kiffin moves on for a better job from the standpoint of recruiting, money, resources. I get it. But it— you left this quote hanging there in Oxford, Mississippi. And that’s where it’s not fair. It’s not right. And I’m disappointed that Lane doesn’t see it that way.”

Patrick also warned that if you’re going to paint Ole Miss and Oxford, Mississippi, in a certain light, “just be aware that there’s a lot of history down there [in Louisiana].”

Patrick added that, at this point, there’s nothing to be gained by trash-talking Ole Miss.

“I know, recruiting. Is that what this is about? Is it, you know, ‘Hey, I had another reason why I left.’ You don’t have to make up something,” he said. “You know, just say it was a better job, more money. I got a chance to win a national title. I can have sustained greatness there where Ole Miss, man, we were kind of trying to hold this together with, you know, Scotch tape.”

Patrick noted that the real shame is that Kiffin’s comments now undermine the positive things he previously said about his time with Ole Miss. And, to an extent, undermine what he perceived as his personal growth while there.

“I thought Lane Kiffin was being honest. Like, he really had done some work on himself. ‘Hey, you know, I can’t leave here. That, you know, this— my family’s here, my ex-wife’s here, everything’s great here.’ And then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m out of here.’ And if you’re using racism as one of the reasons, when did you find out about this? When did grandparents tell you about this, or parents tell you about this? Seems convenient that now you’re leaving. That’s unfortunate. Really is.”

LSU and Ole Miss will tangle in Oxford on Sept. 19 . It’s gonna be must-see TV.

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