Florida AD Scott Stricklin was right when he said things are never “boring or dull” with Lane Kiffin around. At Ole Miss, it showed up everywhere from team meetings, pregame routines, and even on the sideline. Fun, or at least controlled chaos, is his style. That approach followed him to LSU.

On Wednesday, Lane Kiffin posted a video on Instagram carrying on the dunk celebration tradition at LSU. The video featured LSU players practicing dunks on a low-hanging basketball hoop, the same kind he kept on the Ole Miss sideline last season. Same idea, but different colors. And a pretty clear signal that one of his more recognizable Ole Miss traditions is coming with him to LSU.

At Ole Miss, the setup was simple. If you score a TD or force a turnover, then head to the hoop, dunk the football, and celebrate. The rim sat roughly eight feet off the ground, low enough to invite creativity. The opposing team’s logo usually ended up taped to the backboard. And it’s interesting how this tradition of Lane Kiffin’s came to be. 

Back in October 2023, when Ole Miss played Vanderbilt, the dunk goal became a weekly talking point. Every score ended with a dunk. The Commodores logo sat right there on the backboard. After the game, Lane Kiffin explained on the SEC Network with Cole Cubelic that the whole thing was about motivation. He was worried about a trap game, and so he wanted his players locked in.

“Just trying to think of all the things to make sure we were motivated this week,” he said at the time. 

Still, the tradition stuck. In 2024, Lane Kiffin doubled down on the idea that fun mattered. He said they’d replay the dunk clips during Monday meetings and let players grade themselves. He has also been pretty open about where this mindset comes from, even if he jokes about it. When asked once, he blamed Nick Saban, then immediately clarified it was sarcasm.

The real influence runs deeper. Lane Kiffin was five years old when his father, Monte Kiffin, coached at NC State. Monte turned pregame routines into events, even boxing heavyweight champion Joe Frazier before a 1981 game. He arrived at a pep rally by helicopter and jumped onto the field in full gear. He rode horses and parachuted in. Stuff that makes a basketball hoop look ordinary. But of course, those stories stuck with Lane, even if only subconsciously.

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At Ole Miss, those traditions became part of the program’s identity. When Pete Golding took over after Lane Kiffin left on November 30, he inherited all of it. The Walk of Champions with a dog, fire extinguishers blasting smoke at kickoff, and the dunk hoop. The new Rebels’ head coach didn’t rush to make a decision. 

In a December 17 virtual press conference, Pete Golding said he planned to let players vote on what stayed. If it helped win, keep it. If it didn’t, scrap it. He quietly removed the portable hoop from the team meeting room and relaxed the cleat color rules for practice. But the return of Lane Kiffin’s sideline flair comes at a time when Ole Miss is already under a microscope for very different reasons.

Shane Beamer wants Pete Golding to receive adequate punishment 

It’s all to do with the tampering allegations. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ignited controversy in January when he accused Ole Miss of “blatant” tampering tied to the recruitment of Cal transfer Luke Ferrelli. He detailed a sequence where the player entered the portal, signed with the Tigers, enrolled for the spring semester, then re-entered the portal and signed with Ole Miss.

“There’s tampering, and then there’s blatant tampering,” he said.

He laid out what he called Tampering 101, 201, and 301, saving his strongest language for the idea of contacting players while they’re already enrolled elsewhere. Pete Golding texted Luke Ferrelli when he was in class at 8 a.m. to offer him. 

Now, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer, who was paid $8,150,000 for the 2025 season, is backing Dabo Swinney publicly and calling for harsh consequences.

“What the penalty should be, that’s for other people to figure out, but I believe it should be severe,” he said. “If we have rules and we’re not going to enforce them, then what the hell do we have rules for?”

The $8M Gamecocks head coach also admitted to the gray area. Agents contact schools constantly. That’s been happening for years, even during the season. But while other coaches are calling for stricter enforcement and tougher consequences, Lane Kiffin is doing what he’s always done. Because he understands this phrase best: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.