Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media during SEC Media Days. Gary Cosby Jr. via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Lane Kiffin shares the big problem with SEC Media Days

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 7/21/21

Nick Saban has openly said that he can’t stand the way the media talks up his teams before they have even accomplished anything, and SEC Media Days is an opportunity for reporters to do just that. If you ask Lane Kiffin, that is the big problem with the annual event.

Kiffin, who is the head coach at Ole Miss, said on Tuesday that one of the things he dislikes about SEC Media Days is the “rat poison.” As you may know, that is the phrase Saban uses to describe reporters showering his teams in praise.

"Every year you guys say something that makes him mad and gives him rat poison and then we have to deal with that."—Kiffin on Saban

— Kassidy Hill (@KassidyGHill) July 20, 2021

By saying “we have to deal with that,” Kiffin was probably referring to the way Saban uses the praise to motivate his players. The approach seems to work.

Saban was asked on Wednesday about Kiffin’s comments, which were clearly a joke. He took the opportunity to praise his former assistant.