It was quite the weekend for both Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron.
Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels held on to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville but not before fans pelted the field with garbage towards the end of the game. Kiffin himself got his with a golf ball and other items.
“Carries a golf ball to a football game” 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
Any chance we can get that ball back when you are done with it, @Lane_Kiffin 🤷🏽♂️ pic.twitter.com/vIrvZenspJ
— Tennessee Golf Association (@TNgolf) October 17, 2021
Meanwhile, Orgeron’s LSU Tigers pulled off a big upset win over the Florida Gators, but it was announced soon after that the school and head coach had come to an agreement for Coach O to finish out the season and then leave the program. The move completes a stunning fall from grace for a coach who won a national championship less than two years ago.
The two coaches on very different paths in their careers will come together this upcoming Saturday when No. 12 Ole Miss hosts LSU. During his Monday presser, Kiffin was asked about the status of star quarterback Matt Corral and said that he was “not in good shape” and “hopefully he plays.”
Kiffin said Matt Corral is "not in good shape" the last couple of days since the Tennessee game and does not feel good about him playing Saturday against LSU as of right now. #OleMiss
"Hopefully he plays."
— Jake Thompson (@JakeThompsonOn3) October 18, 2021
As many have pointed out, Corral himself discussed the ankle injury after the game on Saturday and he certainly seemed fine, saying “it’s all good” and “I was good after.”
For what it’s worth, here’s Corral addressing his injury after the game Saturday night pic.twitter.com/HExwR0D4yQ
— Michael Borkey (@MichaelBorkey) October 18, 2021
The difference in sentiment certainly has a lot of people thinking Kiffin is trying to play things fast and loose in order to throw LSU off their game plan. And one of those people is Coach O, who isn’t buying what Lane is selling.
Ed Orgeron still expects Matt Corrall to play against LSU, despite his status being a little uncertain. He said, "Knowing Coach Kiffin, he's throwing me a smoke screen."
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) October 18, 2021
“Knowing Coach Kiffin, he’s throwing me a smokescreen,” said Orgeron during his Monday press conference. To be fair, we can totally understand the assumption that Kiffin is doing a little gamesmanship. It’s kinda his thing.
It’s never a dull moment in the SEC, no matter which program you happen to be the coach of (for now). We’ll see whether or not Corral plays on Saturday when LSU and Ole Miss kick off at 12:30 p.m.