Prying eyes: Lane Kiffin-FBI narrative could become part of budding Ole Miss-LSU rivalry's lore

The Ole Miss Rebels went to extreme measures to ensure there were no bugs in their facility after former head coach Lane Kiffin flocked to the LSU Tigers before last season's College Football Playoff. 

In an interview with the "Assorted Crackers" podcast, Walker Jones — the director of Ole Miss' NIL (name, image and likeness) fund, the Grove Collective — said the FBI came in and probed the Manning Center in Oxford for recorders (h/t Tyler Komis of Ole Miss Rebels on SI). 

Turns out that was an exaggeration. On Monday, Ole Miss HC Pete Golding clarified that the school didn't hire the FBI, but it sought help from someone who works for the agency. 

Pete Golding clarifies Lane Kiffin-FBI story 

"Any bowl game, playoff system, obviously you're going to up security. I'm not sure there was a hiring process of 'Here we go with the FBI.' I do think we have a current player whose dad just so happens to work for the FBI that lives in town — from that standpoint," Golding said, via Komis. "There was no measure, 'Oh my gosh, they're coming from that standpoint. Obviously, anytime you get in that playoff system, and you have guys go from this building to other places, you want to make it secure for your players."

Several assistants followed Kiffin to LSU, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., co-OC/tight ends coach Joe Cox and receivers coach George McDonald. All were allowed to coach Ole Miss in the CFP. 

With many future SEC rivals in the building, Ole Miss felt the need to heighten security. Jones confirmed to ESPN's Mark Schlabach, in a story published Monday, that the school hired an FBI agent. He didn't say they were a relative of the unnamed player.

"The video access and everything else and all those things that you're doing regardless of where you're at. That's no different in the semis as the quarters, regardless of where you're at for the hotels you're staying in," Golding said. "You've got to up the security, people are in and out, and you're sweeping trash cans. That's been done for the history of ball, so no, there was no hiring process of 'Hey, let's get the FBI in here, holy cow.' It wasn't anything like that."

The Kiffin-FBI story could become a bigger part of college football lore and make a great rivalry even greater, especially now that both teams are national title contenders. As of Monday, DraftKings Sportsbook gives LSU +1700 odds to win the title and Ole Miss +3000 odds. The No. 9-ranked Rebels host the No. 11 Tigers on Sept. 19 (ABC, 7:30 p.m. ET). 

Golding knows the team's building is clear before that game, but he may want to double-check his own quarters. He purchased Kiffin's old home before he moved to Baton Rouge, which includes a Ring camera he can use to spy, excuse us, check in on his former defensive coordinator.