Lane Kiffin couldn’t help himself when the subject turned to Austin Simmons.
With LSU preparing for its Week 7 matchup against No. 16 Mississippi State, Kiffin was asked Monday about his former Ole Miss quarterback ahead of Missouri’s trip to Oxford.
Simmons, who played for the Rebels from 2023-25 before transferring to Mizzou, is set to face No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
ET on SEC Network.
That gives the game a familiar twist. Kiffin already made a return to Oxford earlier this season, when LSU played - and lost to - Ole Miss there. Now Simmons is the former Rebel making his own trip back, only this time in a different uniform.
Kiffin, who coached Ole Miss from 2020 until leaving for Baton Rouge late in the 2025 season, leaned into the moment with a joke that took aim at the tampering conversation around college football.
“Is that tampering if I talk about another player in college? I don’t know anymore,” said Lane Kiffin, in a little, not-so-playful nudge toward Ole Miss.
“Is there really tampering anyway? Speaking of one of those two schools.
… Does it matter if you tamper? Is there actually a penalty?
So, I guess I’ll comment on it. I love Austin.
I think Austin’s a first-round draft pick. I’ve said that the whole time through.”
Simmons and Kiffin spent three seasons together at Ole Miss before going separate ways, and Saturday’s matchup now puts Simmons back in Oxford against the school he left. Mizzou is 13th in the rankings, while Ole Miss comes in at No. 9 for the SEC showdown.
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