#575 - Lane Kiffin

35:02So it was just in his pocket. That was my guess. I think that's probably accurate. Oh, there you are. Oh, that's pretty cool. Yeah. Um, did you keep that? Yeah. You still have it? I did. Hell yeah, dude. That's cool. How scary is it? How quick do you want to get off the field when you beat a team in their stadium? Is there a weird energy there for a little, like, is it kind of? That one was, yeah. Yeah. That one definitely was. Um, most of the time it's not really, sometimes I kind of like it, you know, like kind of walk off a little slow, you know, just so like You feel that wind, that she just ruined 100 ,000 people's, especially in the SEC, week, not just day.

35:39Oh, yeah. Their traffic home. Yeah, that's a lot. And especially a woman who was going to give birth that week because her husband would be in a good mood, and now she's got to hold it another week. That's the toughest part. Okay, we lost this week. Yeah, we ain't having a baby under these circumstances. You keep it in there. Yeah, yeah. Hold the line, honey. We got Bama next week. we win that you can have a saturday night we'll get that thing out we'll do the tush push that'll help um what's one of the most aggravating traditions that you think and what's one of the best traditions you think in college football if you're even up on them i know there's a lot of them out there well this is like a big tradition like as far as everywhere not specific places like i i love the band thing you know before like it's just really cool when they have the band out there and they spell things.

36:27Speaking of the Tennessee, the opening of the T and then run out, like, that was really cool to, like, see. You're, like, right there and then, like, the band just opens up the T and you run out. Like, that's a really cool tradition. And is there one that's kind of aggravating that you see at a place somewhere? It could be SEC or anywhere.

36:48The fan storming thing is a little bit tough. You know, like, they don't do it in the NFL. They found a way, like, I get it. It's pretty cool. But then it can be aggravating because, like, they're storming and, like, then you're worried about, like, I'm hitting you. What's going on? What are they going to do? It's, like, very invasive at that point. But I think, like, if they could just let everybody out and then let the fans on so they still get to tear the goalpost down because that's cool and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, I was at the Alabama Vanderbilt game, and that was pretty sick. and some guy on the sideline squeezed me so hard, bruised one of my ribs really bad or dislocated it, right?

37:29So I was like, doing like that or whatever. And then every other player kept hugging me. So it was just one after the nudge, just the biggest guys you've ever even seen just hugging you. Yeah, they're all excited. Yeah, and it was just, oh, dude. That was a really tough day. It was a tough year, actually. That took about eight weeks to get better from. Yeah, but you were at a historic moment. it was so cool that will probably never happen ever again it's a once in a lifetime well Diego Pavia got that sixth year that eighth year I think he got yeah you never know did that uh were you surprised when he got that did it affect any of the way that were your players able to apply for anything like that uh we tried we didn't win it um Jack Star actually tried to get another year um or at least see if the option was there and um you know they denied it but hey there we are we iced that dude up clark lee good dude i like i love clark yeah he is cool good guy they got a fun group over there and that's kind of underdog energy over there too you know big time is there an sec team that you also cheer for on the low kind of them i do yeah vanderbilt because i think they have like so much stacked against them you know like they got higher academic qualifications to get guys in so they can't just get all the players everybody else can you know like um harder you know because the stadium's usually half full and stuff so um i i root for them especially clark because that's a hard job yeah and so that's that's pretty cool for them to win like they did this year yeah it's exciting over there yeah they carry the goalpost and then they tried to valet park the goalpost i heard they got tired of it or whatever i didn't know that and they tried to valet him at a restaurant i'm like you can't who are you gonna give it to those three guys up front or whatever like that's crazy yeah but that might be the only like sec town that has valet that's a good that's like when you say that that doesn't feel you know valet in most east town and valet that's a great point spell valet yeah yeah they tried to valet i'm at a um i think at uh at a mccormick and schmicks or something over there so definitely kind of interesting um i want to talk about uh coach sabin you worked with coach sabin for a while and you guys have had like kind of a storied history yep over the years i think um have you guys still communicate yeah yeah we do um he's not a big like text guy um but we talk every once in a while um is he what is he's not text he's like to write is he more written kind of or no you got to call him okay um he did just learn how in the last like two years two texts he had never text before wow ever like when i was just in coach sarah and just like i'm not texting like he just refused it was like that old school like he's got those old school things that aren't changing and um and then i like got a text like two years ago from that said good luck or something like that and i was like to the group i was like dude i got a saving text like this is amazing this is like matter belt beating alabama like this isn't supposed to happen never thought i'd see this day and um and then kirby's like yeah i i got one or this year too like he's like learned how to text just like you get one or two words but um but that relationship's like almost in a way kind of like how you can struggle sometimes like maybe when you're in it with like a parent and then you get out like you get older and you get away get out of the house yeah and then you're like dang man he he was on to something he was right on those things so i look back and i was there for three years and there was friction initially and i look back there's all my fun i'm the assistant you know what i mean yeah he's the head coach you know whatever he says goes oh yeah you're supposed to keep it classy over there yes and that's not his way is very like this is the way like there's not open discussions about it and stuff and i was i'd work for pete carroll as assistant so that's all i knew and it's just totally different so like you come in you have an open conversation and you're questioning the process no i just was asking like we looked at this you know like so i didn't really know how it worked right away and so it took a little bit of time like he didn't want a lot of suggestions no no no it's not like a suggestion box like hey let me pull this oh here here's a good idea you know like so it was um it was just something i wasn't used to that way and so it took a little bit of time but now that i look back i'm like okay he was so strict on everything kind of like in apparent way like with his team with the players I was coaches, like nothing changed.

41:58We won a national championship, and there was 7.30 staff meeting the next morning. I'm like, what are we meeting on at 7.30 the next morning? He's like, we're behind. Because we won the championship, everybody else was recruiting, and we're behind. And I was like, well, what are we doing? But now I look back and be like, that's why he is what he is. That's why he was so great, because it was like the standard never changed no matter what. And then that took me some time to understand, too. Like when you, when we were winning and playing really well and coaching really well, he was harder on you because he didn't want you to have relief syndrome.

42:31You know, like, oh man, we, we've made it. And I didn't really understand that. I saw he was on the pivot like a month ago and I listened to it. My son knocks and he talked about it in there. He'd never explained it to us, but it was interesting to hear. And he said, most people are born with a relief syndrome. He wasn't. he just always had this way of thinking like, hey, you never relax. Like, but most people are. So he went above and beyond to make sure people didn't have that. Like we'd win a game and then he comes in and just like rips us. Yeah. And we're like, man, we played great. Like coach great.

43:05That was because he was guarding against that because he knew that that could happen. Dang. Yeah. He wasn't letting anything be a possibility. When I left, we'd won 26 straight games. So I'd only hadn't had many losses. But I do remember the three losses that we had over the three years. Like he actually, after those was calm. Like that's when we didn't get ripped because he's like, they're going to get ripped anyway. I don't need to, you know, like I need to, when they're feeling good about themselves, bring him down. So I didn't really understand that at first. And now I look back on, man, he was, there's a reason he's the greatest.

43:46Wow. Yeah. Do you regard him as the greatest? Yeah, I do. I think because, you know, to Bear O 'Brien, so like legends back then, no offense, they had like unlimited scholarships. Coach Saban did an error where there were reduced scholarship numbers. He also did an error when you're losing coaches left and right. You know, he lost so many assistant coaches, and he just kept winning. And I don't think anybody will ever be able to do that again. And he couldn't even do that again. The way that it's going anyway, and now this with the money part and all that stuff, that's like evening things out that people can't stack the teams like he did because now your second team and third teams maybe before where they had to sit there and wait, they couldn't leave back then.

44:32Now they leave. So you lose your backups because someone gives them more money. But how was he able to convince players to sit there, be just as good and sit second or third position? That's tough, I feel like. Yeah. Well, that's what I'm saying. Part of his time, they couldn't leave yet. oh you couldn't transfer now you can transfer twice twice a year so he still was able at the end to convince some guys to stay but he started losing so the teams weren't as deep did he have to recruit the whole time or at a certain point did he did the acumen of their coach of their winning just to be the recruiter for him do you think that helped a lot but he never changed that was him like there was no relief and it never changed like he recruited every day no matter what and he was nonstop and he's relentless people always say okay well why did he win so many championships why was he so good and i was like well there's the process there's the assistant coaches there's the discipline all these different areas again right but really the number one thing that mattered the most he out-recruited people he got better players right you get better players you win a lot of games and it wasn't it wasn't just coming there just to come there they came there because he recruited really hard got it did he what was he like i mean did you ever get to spend any time with him?

45:44Like, was he good at cards or anything like that? Or was he, did he do anything else besides like, did he ever take his whistle off? You think like even in the shower, you know, um, coach didn't do a lot of other things. I didn't know he golfed. I never golfed with him, but he golfed. Um, did he ever invite you or like, did he ever dress up for Halloween? Like, was there anything you ever saw coach Saban do that was like, felt a little bit more, not as much like who's that guy Robert Downey Jr. What's the character he plays? Iron that was outside of Iron Man you know? It's interesting you know Nick Saban and people would joke Nick Satan you know he was born on Halloween.

46:23Was he really? His birthday every year is Halloween. No. Yeah. So maybe his whole freaking existence was a costume. Maybe. But he did not there was not he wasn't going to wear a costume or something like that on Halloween so that there was no like, he didn't have like Halloween parties and stuff. On your own birthday, even put on a little cattail or something. Because it was, no day was different. Every day was the same. Wow. I will say this. I went to Easter one time at his house and my kids, they were still living in California with my wife. And because I took the Alabama job and then they came for Easter.

47:01Yeah. And he invited us over. And we went over there and he was different now he didn't put on like a bunny costume but like he was helping the kids with like the easter eggs and he had one grandkid at the time um and he was like carrying around and like and it was totally different than the office nick saban that we would see all the time you know like so that that was pretty cool to see that side of him now he's also so competitive that he his grandkid was like one and all of a sudden the grandkid found the golden egg you know like while he was with coach way over there, you know? So coach also was going to make sure that he won.

47:39Yeah. But it was pretty cool to see him like that. Yeah. Yeah. You got to be different. You can't, when Jesus is making a comeback, you can't play defense on that day. You know, that's when you got to just call the dogs off. I feel like, but it is definitely skeptical that a one-year-old found a golden egg. Was he playing against other kids of kids, like of age children? Yeah. Mine were like eight, 10 and 12. Oh God. Yeah. That's sad. But yeah, winners win, you know? That's what they say. Do you think that Coach Saban misses coaching? I do. I think that, and he mentioned that in that Pivot podcast, but I did always think, okay, if he was going to do this, he was going to have to have, and I used to say he's going to have to kind of have that college game day spot because he's going to want to still be involved.

48:26You know, he's just so wired all day long to do something for his entire life. Like now he's not going to sit around and just, you know, be a grandpa. Yeah. That's not him. So I think because of that, that's helped a lot. I wouldn't actually be surprised if he came back in the NFL even, you know, as head coach. Because he just, he's so good at it and so in him that I'm not sure he won't come back. What, I want to talk about the NIL and then I want to talk about your team and Ole Miss here. um does um god i sound like a sports guy or something yeah even doing yeah you're getting really like um i know i feel like going into this i was gonna we're gonna go a lot of different directions and now you've come back to like i think people are probably turned off by now i know like oh dude hey tell us about your uh depth at safety this year yeah yeah how do you guys feel about third down package nobody wants to hear that i don't know my first down package is pretty small i'll tell you that that's an old wiener joke um here we go now we're more there we go yes they're turning back on i want to tell you about the like nil do you have to spend more time recruiting players or boosters these days with nil yeah um a lot of booster part um because they got to get their resources to pay now that's going to get a little bit moved now with revenue sharing and um coming from the school but these last few years has been okay well the boosters have to create these collectives and have to source the money to pay the players.

49:57So if you don't have the money, you don't have the payroll, it's hard to get players. And if you see, it's not hard. Look at who just won in basketball, the programs that made the Final Four. Look at what, you know, the Final Four college football teams, like they're major programs that have a lot of financial resources. So, yeah, you got to do a lot of that, and then you got to convince the players. Now, where it's different is the old school, unfortunately, kind of, the old school recruiting of the relationships and having a relationship three years since the kid was a sophomore in high school and stuff.

50:32It's not as important anymore because now I'm like, okay, well, what are you paying me? You know, this school is this, this school is this, this school is this. And most of the time, you usually go to the higher number. And is that just a real question out of the gate is what is the offer? Yeah. Wow. And do most of them have agents or they have to do that directly by themselves? Yeah, it's now just transitioned to where most of them age. Oh, that's trash. It's really, you know, we're in my office right here. So I sit here all the time and the recruits sit over there where your guys are. And the parents and I said, this is our staff the other day.

51:05Like I've sat in so many of these meetings, like whatever, say the last hundred. And, you know, I never hear anymore. What's your graduation rate? I never hear anymore. Like what's the academic plan? And it's just kind of sad. These are the parents. It just is what it is. And then I go, okay, well, when's our NIL meeting? Yeah. What's the number? What's the second year number? Like, I'm not mad about it, but it's just kind of sad. Yeah, you just recognize it. And I'm also recognizing it to say, I don't believe long-term that's good for the kids. So this has been great for players to make some money, but it's so much money and it's so much focus on the money that then it's like, okay, well, then what's next?

51:45If I were getting the money when I'm 18, then what? Right. You've seen this all the time. People get too much too early, and then what? They crash. Crash out. Yes, and I feel like we're creating a lot of that in this, and now a kid's sitting there listening to his parents out, and they want to know the money. So what's the kid supposed to want to know? Yeah, it's crazy. I agree. That's bonkers, dude. Yeah, if I'd have had some money, I'd have fucking left school the second you gave me that chat. I'd have driven across country and got me some damn dope, boy. But I'm sure at that time you thought, man, if I just had a million dollars, man, I'd have no problems.

52:23Yeah. Yeah. Then life would be great. I heard all the time of these players. I just get money, man. Players I hear from adults. If I get money, man, all my problems, then I'll be good. Okay. We'll see. We'll see. When I go in the homes and recruiting over all these years, I see the most problems in the families with the most money. Most money, most success. And then I don't feel any warmth in that room. I don't feel the connection with the kids. And then I'll go to a house here in Mississippi or Louisiana, and there'll be 10 people living in this two-bedroom house. And you just feel the warmth and the closeness and everything, and then you've got hardly anything financially.

53:05But then they have this love and this family, and I've just done this for a long time, and I see it usually the other way around. The bigger the houses, the more cars, the more money.

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56:28That's 20 % off your first order with code T-H-E-O at liquidiv.com. What's one of the biggest things that keeps players that are good players from succeeding, do you find? their minds yeah yeah yeah a lot of them run fast jump throw and it's their minds and then getting in their own way you know and then here comes this now you got money too here comes this ego coming in because i'm a five star i got all these scholarship offers like the entitlement of that and the ego comes in and out now they got the money too so it's like they had this drive to get to the nfl because they want to play in the nfl they want to get the money well i'm getting the money already so now that's now i've lost some drive there right and they just get in their own ways you know and they get so much attention so early and so much and then it's like they just think it's gonna last forever yeah and they just like they just screw it up so they get in their own ways and it's usually that one word ego um what's the craziest thing a player's ever asked you for just like point blank have they ever been like i need a uh give me a jaguar coach or something like that like the animal or the car not the animal um i wouldn't say create like i don't have a good story like a crazy thing you know like but it just like what continues to blow my mind and nowadays is they want more when they haven't done anything new meaning like okay here's what i got i got this to come you know to transfer to come around high school and then they come in like, okay, well, I need more.

58:09And they're like, well, you didn't do anything. Like you didn't have a good year. Well, why, why would you get more? Like, it's just that mindset of like, I just deserve more. Like I deserve more and more because there's no, there's no appreciation in there for where they're at or like, man, I got to play better to get more. Just I'm supposed to get more. And that happens all the time. There's two transfer portal windows. So like if you could negotiate your contract twice a year, every year, but then for six months, you haven't done a show. You haven't done anything. But after that six month period, you want a new contract and a new deal bigger than what you had, but you hadn't done anything.

58:47Yeah. Or maybe you screwed the shows up. Right. Through interceptions, but you still want more. So it's just, and it's not even their fault. There's the parents. Now you got agents. Like, do you still feel like a coach? Do you feel like a banker more? Mm. Mm. It's not really like a banker, but you spend so much time not coaching. And I think that's part of the Nick Saban and getting out. It's just like it just changed because these conversations, these things, and you see the greed for it. But it's unique because from someone that's been fortunate to make money, have success, get to the highest levels, Like, it's like, I keep trying to tell them like, that's not going to be the answer.

59:33Right. Like that new contract, getting that much more money isn't going to change anything. You're not going to, you know, be happier because of, but it's like, they don't. You can't hear it. Yes. Kids can't hear it. Cannot. I can sit in these two chairs right here to some, some, most of them, some will, but most of them. And they just look at me like, there's no one. I'm like, listen to me. Until you fix these internal problems, until you fix how you think that everybody's against you or whatever it is, these issues that they each have, and I'll try to, like, work through them. I'm like, that money, that new contract, that next car, that next girl, like, that's not going to fix that.

1:00:11And I'm like, if I get picked in the first round, I got that contract, everything is fixed. Yeah. Coach, I don't care what you say. Type shit. Trust me. Yeah, they say it's all a wrap. Yeah. Everybody thinks they'll have it figured out. I get more bands. It's good. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, boy. Give me a grand right now. That's all I need. I run a 50 right now. I run a 6 '150". How fast is that? 6 '150". We don't really grade 50. You mean 40? I don't know. That's good. You confuse people. It might be good. It might be bad. I don't know what I mean, right? I don't know if you're slow or fast. 6 '150".

1:00:49So what is some of your push for players to come here to Ole Miss these days? Like, what is it, you know, what do you sell them on about being here? Yeah, this is a really cool place to go to school. And so I got to see that as a parent. My daughter, Landry, is a sophomore here. Oh, yeah, I've seen her on TikTok before. I've seen y 'all on there doing makeup or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Like, just like I said, the social media thing, I kind of live like a young person in a lot of ways. Like, just enjoy, you know? Like, I just try to have joy. It seems like kind of sweet. Again, back to a lot of people.

1:01:22like you're supposed to be old you're supposed to be an adult like you can't do like a makeup tick tock with your daughter and i'm like i'm gonna be gone someday i'm gonna be dead or i'm gonna be at the end of it you know those last couple years you think i'm gonna be like man i wish i was right there yeah i think i'm gonna be like man i wish i wouldn't have done that with my daughter because some fans think that's like i'm soft yeah dude i think a lot of also a lot of i bet four of the first round picks this year will be wearing blush i didn't see like now they're wearing like nail polish oh have them wear a nail polish eyeliner booty liner some guy had on the other day they caught him some guy i think that played for uh northwestern or nickel state or something but um and i'm like what is that who's putting rouge on their butt cheeks you know so i think you're way safe here coach um but that's just kind of like how i like i and i don't know you like it seems like you have that too where it's kind of like Like, man, we're supposed to be growing up, and there's certain aspects we are.

1:02:19But then these other areas, it's like, what's wrong with having youthful fun? You know, like, we go out and play pickleball, and somebody's like, I see some old people look at me like, man, he's playing out there with his kids, and, like, he's, like, dancing to the music, you know, to, like, Taylor Swift playing or something. You know, like, I'm like, why? Just because I'm, like, getting older and I'm not supposed to, like, have fun? Yeah. You know, or, like, when you come to yoga in the morning and, like, we're crushing you in yoga, and I'm kind of like dancing, talking shit, celebrating over you.

1:02:47If that happens in the morning, you might crush it in the morning. I don't know. I mean, look, I don't want to have to do yoga or have to wear cleats is the only thing that I'm thinking. There's no cleats. Okay. No cleats. No socks even. But no, I think you're right, man. Yeah, I think, well, it also goes back to what you said. It's like, you know, you don't like to follow this old playbook about things. You'd like to have this new playbook about things. What's kind of like part of that that you offer your players or people that want to come down here? Do you sell them like, hey, this is a team that's like, this is a program that's, obviously it's gone.

1:03:13you know the trajectory's gone up you know especially in the past five years for sure in the past decade um yeah what do you kind of push them on how do you get players to to come here to Ole Miss because it's always been a little bit more of the underdog in the SEC yeah I think the kids really like we create an atmosphere that you want to be at not have to same with our employees you know like I feel like in the morning if you ask them when they're getting up and they're driving their cars over whether it's players or staff like they want to be here yeah the GM had a damn zen in i think yeah yeah he does he's working on it yeah he's trying to quit he's trying to quit some other things yeah he's been there done that yeah but that atmosphere of comfortable and like the players like i've been around both and i've been around as an employee where you're miserable driving in like another day like and it's just like to me you're not very productive that way like i want our players to come here and like they play their own playlists like in practice and stuff, you know, like it's a player's team with discipline, but the same thing around the office, like people, when you have hours, like you don't even have like, you leave when you're done with your work, you know, like, okay, you leave at this time.

1:04:21Um, cause then people just sit there and guard their desk, you know, until the time goes. So I just try to create an atmosphere that people really want to be at and they have a lot of fun doing it. And it's really, to me, it's awesome if you can win and have fun because some programs like they win and, but they're still miserable. And I've seen that. So we try to create this atmosphere and I think people love it. Is it tough to be like a coach and a dad? Cause you have three children, right? And is it tough to be like a coach and a dad and a coach and a husband? Like what's that, what is the cross of like those jobs like for a coach?

1:04:56Cause it takes a lot of time. Yeah. I think like a lot of questions, I answer them differently now than I did five, 10, 15 years ago. I think, you know, as I look back and I use my failures and experiences. Now it's awesome because I get to use to help others. Yeah. And I help our players when they're going through it. So I like that. I had a lot of stuff happened to me or self-inflicted stuff. Oh yeah. That like, I struggled for a long time, but then as I like now see, like I get to help, like because a coach knows my story or players and they come in i can help them with things like when you say okay how did like the balance of a husband father and head coach well i failed at that because i'm as a head coach like i was a head coach tennessee usc and i was like that was my higher power and i'm the head coach usc yeah that's who i am not like oh i'm a husband not I'm a father.

1:05:59That became my higher power. That was the most important thing to me. And I could feel it because I'd be like, ooh, we'd win. So then the LA Times Sunday morning, man, Coach Lane Kiffin. And they're like, well, what do you want? And I remember him asking me, what do you want someday? And I'm like, a statue like Nick Saban because then I made it. They built a statue of me because I won so many games and championships. yeah that's what i want but i was totally missing it because if you ask me that now what do you want you know what i want i want to be a really good dad i want to be a really good boss a really good friend a really good neighbor the other stuff happens with the winds that's fine but i was so focused on that that it it controlled everything i just slept at the office all week long because like we had to win that's all that matters and like john daly used to sleep at a hooters yeah that was a little different.

1:06:57Yeah, that's true. He didn't even work there. It's not like he was, you know, working on chipping at Hooters. Yeah, that's true. It was a short game. Yeah, you're right. That's a good point. So I don't know why I said that, but yeah, people sleep at the office. Yeah.

1:07:13I think John Daly still goes to Hooters for like the John Daly two-hour like signing special. I love JD, by the way. Oh, of course, dude. He's awesome. No, we talk about him every single week. There he is right there, huh? Yes. yeah oh he's got a he's got that two pat right well he's off a couple of honey packs right there look at him yeah that's where i won't that's where i won't comment head coach okay okay okay um so anyway so that's where this failure came in because it was like okay if you're gonna put all if this is the most important thing to you then i like look back and shoot no wonder like i ended up getting divorced no wonder that you know i end up having strained relationship with my kids And then I kind of figured this out later on and started going, okay, wait, wait, wait a second.

1:07:57This is just part of who I am, you know, being a coach. And then I started to work on the other areas of my life. Got sober from a lot of things really. Just not just physical sober, like stop drinking, but like emotionally sober, you know, like, and that's still a constant battle. Working on that, like, and things not making me go way up, way down, like every day. but and people say okay well what do you do you don't drink like what do you do like thursday and i was like what's replaced that is like amazing like going to dinner with landry or watching a movie with her friends like you know like you just i just had this shift and it really helped me and actually i'm a better coach out of it which you wouldn't think would be like because you think okay well if you put everything into it but then you lose balance and you're just kind of off and everything is so defined on a win or loss that like it's everything i remember like losing a really really important game and i remember at the time like saying why she's like and i'm like i don't want to wake up we actually lost usc we lost to texas we were in our third straight national championship i'm lost in the rose bowl national championship bench young couldn't tackle him and i'm like i don't want to wake up tomorrow she said what is wrong with you we had one kid at the time landry and she's like you have a kid like you have a whole life like we lost the game third straight national championship how how long is it going to take to ever get there again yeah but i was just so out of whack on that um because that's i mentioned earlier that the ego had gotten so big when i became a head coach and all the money and success and attention that like it just built and like you got to keep feeding it and so it's really been cool to get out of that spot.

1:09:45Yeah. And what do you attribute to helping you get out of it? Probably lifestyle change. Um, you know, I came to Mississippi and decided like, okay, I started eating more to food, not working out. Like, um, and I just was like, man, I'm not the best version of myself. I didn't have this like rock bottom moment, you know, that people have sometimes I just was like, man, I don't really like this lower version of myself. I want to be the highest version of myself so i changed my diet i stopped the alcohol i started working out um and really what i started to do is to pour into other people instead of just pouring into myself dang coach you're making me feel bad about my life bro you're younger than me used to get there but it's a daily battle it is man and especially that emotional sobriety that's my biggest issue dude i mean my i have a certain emotion and i get literally drunk off of it or half of it or the other way i get depressed it's like it's like those are like my drugs a lot of times any feeling that i have i'm still there like that's a daily battle god boy and i really got on this after the physical sobriety after a couple years of okay well okay i got really healthy working out all the time and don't drink but it was like okay but i still was letting people situations like man well that that went my way so everything's good yeah you know like oh that didn't go that away we lose that recruit or have an argument with this person and like everything's terrible and i was like man and i had somebody tell me like just remember the tide goes in and out every day like it's going to and like do you just get freaked out by that or you're just like hey the tide came in tide went out and so i really try to do that because like i'll do the yoga everything's good man then i'll come in here and then this player has this issue you know or a kid has this issue you know and then it's like or this doesn't go this way that especially like if you're like me which i feel like you are from your last answer when somebody doesn't do what you want them to do like wait everything would be good man if he just wouldn't say that sorry and i'll believe this if she does this if he does that and they do that i'll be good yeah well wait they don't and it never is going to happen it's just total unrealistic expectations of what i have a lot of times yeah and um that's one of my biggest things is unrealistic expectations like expecting the tide not to come in yes that's what it'd be like everybody to do things exactly i want to expect that people know how i want things done after i haven't shared how i want them done that's my biggest thing like expecting somebody to know what i want them to do but i've never even told them exactly what i want yeah that's and that's a crazy person would think that way so yeah or i did this i'm not doing and then they don't deal and then they don't they don't act how i want them back after what i did yeah haven't i haven't have you been having all this shared with you yeah yeah but there is a major problem that when you become and you're in charge of company your head coach you know like and all the people are working for you so your whole day they really are doing what you want and then now in your personal life outside of it maybe somebody doesn't do what you want and then you lose your mind that's where i was off with the emotional part yeah you know and had to like work on that part.

1:12:57Yeah. I can't imagine everybody a coach. It would be hard. I can't even coach myself. Um, Oh, so you've really taken the Oxford coach. I noticed that your son is moving here, right? Is that true? Yeah. So my daughter goes to school here. Okay. And she's a sophomore. She's a sophomore. Okay. Another daughter's going to college at USC. And then my son is moving here. He's actually on a spring break here right now. And he's moving here next month. And he's going to go to Oxford High? He is. Nice. And he plays football too or no? He does. Yeah. Yeah. He's quarterback. He's got a chance to be good.

1:13:33So that'll be exciting to be able to watch all his games here. And he's always up here working out with his buddies. So, oh, that's going to be great just to be around that much, that many other players and stuff. It's awesome. I was, my dad was a coach. I grew up as a coach's kid that to be around those locker rooms and to be around those players and to learn from them, it's, it's, It's so awesome and so motivating. Yeah. Did you have a good relationship with your dad? I know your dad was Monty Kepin. Yep. And did you guys have a good relationship? Amazing. Oh, nice. So he passed in July and...

1:14:01Was he sick? Was he pretty sick at the end of his life? He had dementia, and so he slowed down a lot. But here's what's really cool, you know? I'm just saying, like, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Like, we probably have the pain of regret from things we weren't disciplined at in life. Mm-hmm. You know, if you look back, man, if I would have done that or, like, I would have got... you know, made different decisions. So now you have the pain of the regret of that. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of times people with parents, sometimes like when they pass, you know, they have the pain of regret.

1:14:31Man, I wish I'd been around him more. I didn't go to see him. Well, my dad worked for me all the way up until then at 84. So all these last three stops, he was here in the building helping us coach. Oh, that's cool. So every day I would see him 15 times a day oh yeah and he was such a coach that like even as doctors say that was keeping him alive because he could come into the office every day he's 84 years old with dementia still coming in the office yeah and he just was like he was the ultimate coach the old school coach and so i got to be with him every day all the way up so because of that of bringing him to all the places making sure he was at work every day and everything like that was here at o'miss yeah wow yeah so if you don't come here who knows if that even setup is even kind of perfect for that Yeah, but that's where I've gotten to like, who knows what's supposed to be perfect?

1:15:22What I thought, what we thought as our plan should be, I was like totally off. You know, like I'd have been like, there's no way I'm going to like want to move to Oxford, Mississippi, have my kid go to college here, have my other kid go to high school here and love it. And now I do. And who would have thought they would have ever wanted to come here? Like, it's like, you know, God's plan obviously makes a lot more sense than ours. Cause every time I take that and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, maybe he wants it. Let me turn that over here. Oh yeah. My way. This is what I want to happen. Like these people need to do this.

1:15:57I need to go here. I need to get that job. Let me control everything. Yes. Yeah. And then, then it just doesn't work. It really doesn't. And then when I just, which is hard and I just let go and just let it go and whatever's going to happen is going to happen. and that tide's going to come in. It's going to go out. I'll just float along with it. The HOV lane, dude. Who caught that clipboard? Do you know? I don't know. They brought it back. They did? Yes. Mississippi nice. Oh, that's so sweet of them. Told you. The people here are amazing. God, that was great. There's nothing as good as SEC football.

1:16:36Because it's like when the plays work, it's like a video game. I feel like I'm playing a video game on the sideline. So think like when you're playing a video game, You throw your controller. That's really what I'm doing. It's still the kid in me right there. You know, like throw my clipboard, like your controller. Out of the box. You've had a quite a life, you know, you start, you started kind of, you know, you didn't start, but you kind of came on a lot of people's radar in coaching at the highest level, right? Step back into college football. You've been a player. You've, you know, you've had like, you kind of a polarizing people would say type figure, very unique in your own way and I think after talking to you more I learn a little bit more about how you operate so I can understand but what is like a message you would get uh you know you've had you've been through divorce you've been through um you have children um you've had a lot of just experiences in your life yeah what um for somebody out there who's getting into their middle age and is kind of struggling um with having a setback or something what is what is something you think you would share with them from your experience or a thought or statement or?

1:17:41Yeah. Yeah. I think that like they can do it. Like these things happen, you know, like these major obstacles that seem so horrible at the time, a divorce, firings, maybe you have a health scare, like these things that seem so terrible and they're really not, they just feel like it in the moment and they're going to pass and you're going to actually look back later on and be glad for them. Like my kind of major thing was I got fired as a head coach at USC and like my career is over. Well, that wouldn't happen. I wouldn't have gotten to work for Nick Saban for three years, you know? So like whatever those things are or your career's been over like four times.

1:18:19Yeah. That you can do it. And it's actually feels way better than like, let's say you come out, like I came up and got a lot of breaks cause my dad and stuff. And so it's like okay i got to the top okay well that felt good but then to actually have it torn down and all taken away some by circumstances some by your own decisions and rebuild from the bottom personally and professionally it feels so much better it's like instead of buying the house you build the house from the beginning and so just for people that are struggling in whatever one of those areas may be like you can do it but don't get overwhelmed like it really is one day at a time.

1:18:57Like, hey, just start working out today, you know, or stop drinking today, you know, or start being a better person today, whatever those areas are. Yeah. Just today, just today, man. Cause other stuff's overwhelming. We don't know what's going to happen next week, or next month or next year and just be really good at it today. Amen, man. I needed to hear that. Yeah. There's something I've been like, I just feel like kind of the world is in and cause something that's kind of like just work stuff. And I'm like, what do i do but i just have to look at it as a challenge adjust the perspective zoom out yeah zoom out see so watching my dad pass through and the last couple years of dementia but also watching him on what was important to him he'd been a head coach he'd been fired he'd been through all these it didn't matter like what whatever that is right now that you're starting you're gonna look back toward him like what was i even like losing sleep for or having anxiety about that for yeah it really ain't that big if you zoom out to later on you're gonna look back be like man that wasn't a big deal i'm glad it happened hotty toddy man uh toddy lane kiffin thanks so much dude i really appreciate it uh i hope that you stay as entertaining as ever um and i'm glad that you're in the sec man it's one of the greatest conferences to watch and uh congratulations on what you guys have done here at old miss man um i want to thank my friend scott sackfield and richie hike who helped me think up questions today to talk about as well because they went to school here and uh yeah i'm looking forward to spending uh having a good show here tonight yeah excited for your show tonight we'll be there and our whole team's coming actually oh yeah the whole team's coming oh dude yeah we told them in the team we had a team meeting today and said we're going we're going tonight we're like we got you in free so like yes because we don't have any money we're like wait you make like a million dollars like these guys know but they still they still just want something for free yeah we told me you're really funny and free so something to know you At the end, they're still college students.

1:20:48She just puts up for free. Lane Kiffin, thanks so much. All right, man.

1:21:16Thank you.