LSU’s Lane Kiffin Apologizes After Suggesting Black Families Didn't Want Their Kids Going To Ole Miss

BreakingBusinessLSU’s Lane Kiffin Apologizes After Suggesting Black Families Didn't Want Their Kids Going To Ole MissByAntonio Pequeño IV,Forbes Staff. Pequeño is a breaking news reporter who covers tech and more.Follow AuthorMay 12, 2026, 04:39pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineLSU football coach Lane Kiffin, who previously led the Ole Miss football program, apologized Tuesday for comments he made this week to Vanity Fair in which he suggested he had difficulty recruiting Black players to the University of Mississippi since it lacks the “diversity” of LSU, which prompted social media backlash. Kiffin's interview with Variety was published Monday.Photo by Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty ImagesKey FactsKiffin, who coached at Ole Miss from 2020 to 2025 before joining LSU on a controversial and lucrative $91 million contract, told Vanity Fair that recruits would say their families were not okay with them moving to Oxford, Mississippi, adding, “That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”Kiffin said parents who have lauded LSU’s “diversity” have noted “It feels like there’s no segregation.”The comments drew widespread backlash and ridicule on social media, with some noting the LSU Tigers’ namesake is a group of Confederate soldiers, while The Atlantic writer Jemele Hill tweeted it’s “Really amusing watching LSU and Ole Miss fans argue about which school is the least racist.”The LSU coach provided Vanity Fair with a follow-up comment after his interview, saying, “I just hope [my comment] comes across respectful to Ole Miss…. There are some things that I’m saying that are factual, they’re not shots.”Kiffin reiterated his stance to On3 on Tuesday, saying, “I really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended by that,” saying the “narrative” he spoke about was one “coaches have been fighting forever” and that it was not a “ca...