Oxford, Mississippi, is a charming small town that’s rich in the arts, full of some of the finest dining one could imagine, and centered around a university that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually with its athletic events. At least that’s how locals view it. But to an outsider, especially one who has lived in Los Angeles and South Florida, Oxford could deliver quite the culture shock.
Culture shocked can accurately describe Lane Kiffin in the early stages of his tenure as the football frontman at Ole Miss. Kiffin, the son of the late Monte Kiffin, one of the greatest defensive minds in football, was not sure what to expect when he arrived in Mississippi with the opportunity to turn a struggling program around. Admittedly, the only reason Kiffin came to Oxford was to coach in the Southeastern Conference.
The slow pace of Oxford paired with the persistence among locals to engage in long-winded conversations particularly baffled Kiffin. In essence, it seemingly appeared to the football coach that he had stepped into the setting of the “Andy Griffith Show.” As odd as the transition into everyday life in Oxford was, especially while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiffin soon discovered something in the Mississippi town that he seldom experienced elsewhere — a true family-friendly environment.
Kiffin’s early hesitance to embrace the community was challenged by his eldest daughter, Landry, who was fully immersing herself in it. While the Rebel coach was surrounded by rumors that he was planning to take the same gig at SEC rival Auburn in 2022, Landry was preparing to enroll at Ole Miss as a student. Once the Auburn smoke fizzled and ultimately amounted to nothing but a distracted Ole Miss football team closing its campaign poorly, Kiffin then truly started to embrace his southern home.
2023 rolled around, and Kiffin found himself leading his program to its first-ever 11-win season, one that ended with a victory in the Peach Bowl. At that time, the head coach and his staff were also assembling arguably the best roster in Ole Miss history through the transfer portal, while also picking up quality high school players for future years.
The excitement ahead of a campaign dubbed “The Last Dance” dimmed in the summer of 2024 when Kiffin lost his father. Monte, who passed at age 84, had followed Lane to Oxford and served as an analyst for the Rebels, while also being a trusted mentor to his son.
Sometimes, a tragedy can occur with something beautiful on the horizon. Last August, Lane’s brother, Chris, joined the Ole Miss football staff as an analyst. Along with Chris came his wife and four children, bringing more family to Lane. And the ball did not stop rolling there.
In the later months of the year, Kiffin and his ex-wife, Layla, reunited. Though the status of their relationship is unconfirmed, Layla has been a frequent face in her former spouse’s social media posts. To make matters more interesting, Kiffin confirmed in January that Layla and their 16-year-old son, Knox, were moving to Oxford. Knox is poised to be a student and football player at Oxford High School.
Tragedy, however, would hit the Kiffin family once more. Last month, Lane and Chris’ mother, Robin, passed away. The grieving process, which is never seamless, was alleviated by the presence of his family.
“So just coming off a couple of days with family and with Chris’ kids, you know, whether that was dancing with my nieces at [the] Morgan Wallen [concert] or yesterday out on the boat and seeing all the cousins playing with each other, and how proud my parents would be of that,” Kiffin said at SEC Media Days on Monday. “It’s just really cool to see things through a different lens now. It’s awesome that there are so many Kiffins in Oxford to experience everything together.”
It’s no secret that Kiffin’s presence in Oxford has elevated both football and community growth. Last season alone, Ole Miss home games had a $325 million economic impact on its host city. Additionally, the University of Mississippi welcomed a record freshman class in the fall of 2024, and enrollment numbers show no sign of slowing. Football has inarguably played a key role in these feats being accomplished.
In his five years at the top of the program, Kiffin has led three seasons with 10 or more wins while also sending droves of players to the NFL. No other coach in Ole Miss history has had this level of success. But as Kiffin’s program has poured into the Oxford community, the people of the small town have also poured back into him and his family in such a way that the ambitious football leader has had a strong change in his perspective about life.
“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, it really is amazing,” Kiffin said, later adding:
“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.”
A slow-paced Mississippi lifestyle once puzzled Kiffin, but the overwhelming sense of hospitality and genuineness of Oxford’s people gave him a feeling of warmth, and that he happened to be right where he belonged. Now, when Kiffin leaves Mississippi to spend time in South Florida or abroad, he misses the homey feeling of Oxford, along with the genuine outpouring of love from a community he once refused to embrace.
When Ole Miss kicks things off against Georgia State in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on August 30, it will mark Kiffin’s sixth season as the team’s head coach — the longest he has served in that capacity in his career. In the meantime, folks can find Lane and Landry teaching hot yoga classes as Knox prepares for the upcoming high school football season, all while Layla is an active member of their lives, and Chris’ family is nearby.
