College Football

Lane Kiffin describes opening query about Nick Saban as ‘pretty usual’

Lane Kiffin describes opening query about Nick Saban as ‘pretty usual’

ATLANTA — Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin provided a strong hint he and other SEC coaches who were former assistants on Alabama coach Nick Saban‘s staff, including Georgia coach Kirby Smart, may grow tired of questions about their former boss.

Kiffin smirked when his first question Monday at the Southeastern Conference Media Days asked him to recall Saban’s philosophy on trick plays.

“Well, Kirby Smart used to say sometimes you come up here and just talking about Alabama,” Kiffin said. “So our first question somehow is about Nick Saban, so … that’s pretty usual.”

Kiffin smiled before adding Saban liked trick plays – but only when they worked.

CRAWFISH AND OYSTERS FOR KELLY

New LSU coach Brian Kelly was bold enough to sample a Louisiana accent when he was hired to a 10-year deal in November.

At his first SEC Media Days appearance, Kelly was asked to use his best Cajun accent when talking about his favorite Louisiana food. This time, he deferred.

Kelly, the Massachusetts native and former Notre Dame coach, said his accent is complicated.

“Understand now, I have a Boston, Midwestern, Louisiana accent now,” Kelly said. “It’s three dialects into one. It’s no longer family, I got all kinds of stuff to throw at you. Just be ready.”

Kelly listed two new favorite foods.

“The best? You know, it’s probably the crawfish etouffee,” he said. “I don’t know how you top that. I would say also the grilled oysters. If you haven’t had grilled oysters, try that. That will get your cholesterol level up high pretty quickly. That’s pretty good, too.”

RIVALRIES RENEWED

Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said he supports renewing rivalries with Texas and Oklahoma when those schools join the SEC in 2025.

“I’m all for it,” Drinkwitz said. “I think I said up here earlier that I think the beauty of college football is the rivalries that we have. I think it’s the shared traditions and pageantry of the game.

“I think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t miss that or lose that in search of better TV contracts or better TV exposure. We’re going to lose the basis of who we are.”

NO. 1 STATE – IN BASEBALL

Football is still king in the state of Mississippi, but the baseball programs have been hot topics, too.

Ole Miss won the College World Series title in June, a year after rival Mississippi State pulled off the same feat. So college baseball was a topic the Rebels players were happy to talk about.

“I think that was just…

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