Lane Kiffin Now Appreciates Family Even More

The Southeastern Conference Media Days opened in Atlanta Monday and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin spent part of his opening comments sharing insights about his family.

“It’s really been an amazing five years personally and professionally there in Oxford and I reflect on that like life, with so many good things of gains and losses. With my daughter Landry being there and now Knox and Layla living there really is amazing. My brother and his four kids living there. You know, it’s really amazing,” Kiffin said.

“And then with some losses of now losing both parents in the last year has been very challenging. Just thinking on the way over here about my mother and how grateful I am to her, and it reminds me of coaches’ wives, and to all coaches’ wives in all levels how you really are the glue that holds everything together in these families with coaches like my dad that worked so much and the mom is doing everything at home.

“So just really grateful to both my parents for that. Feel like they spent a lot of years and spent a lot of time taking us to a certain level. So what you’re now experiencing, which is strange losing both parents, that you’re really the highest on the family tree now of what’s left, and what that means about — they go next door and I don’t think they leave you. They go next door and allow you to go to the next level.

“So just coming off couple days with family and with Chris’ kids, you know, whether that was dancing with my nieces at Morgan Wallen or yesterday out on the boat and seeing all the cousins playing with each other and how proud my parents would be of that.

“So just really cool to see things through a different lens now. Awesome that there are so many Kiffins in Oxford to experience everything together.”

Later the Ole Miss coach got to share even more about his family.

Q. Wanted to ask about your time in Oxford. Where do you think you’ve grown the most in Oxford?

“Yeah, it’s been an awesome time. Not to kind of dig too much into it, but even this weekend with family and stuff and just losing our parents, you know, and you just can’t — you got no idea what’s going to happen. I was talking to our kids about that,” Kiffin said.

“Okay, for instance, I was in Alabama. Played at Ole Miss and one summer went and visited my brother at this neighborhood in Oxford. I was saying to his wife. Ten years ago or something like that, what if I was going tell you you were going to go to all these jobs and I was going to be the head coach of Ole Miss and you’re going to be here and the kids will be here and then Layla, Knox, and Landry are going to be here.

“There is no way. But then our parents will be gone. It’s just been an amazing experience. I just have — I’m not saying this because I’m the head coach. I don’t give you coach-speak. The people of Oxford, when you lose your parents and you see how they are and how they helped take care of them towards the end or how much they really cared about them, it just opened my eyes to a totally different way.

“Basically went to Oxford, had this view. Then I got kids there so I had a different view as a parent there. Then how awesome it is to raise your kids there and go to college and high school around these families. Then you see year parents at the end and lose your parents.

“I owe so much to Oxford and the people there. It’s just been awesome.”