Tyrann Mathieu has conflicting opinions on Lane Kiffin.
The former LSU All-American defensive back affectionately known as the "honey badger" has gone on record saying that Kiffin is a great fit for LSU, but he's also questioned the coach's loyalty. Mathieu's comments from his "In the Bayou" podcast are more detailed than the snippets that have been plucked out thus far and it shows the many feelings one might have about Kiffin.
A brand new episode of In The Bayou is out NOW! 🚨@Mathieu_Era and @Lifeis_rell dive into the Lane Kiffin buzz, Shedeur Sanders’ first NFL start, Tyrann’s Top 5 Coaches of all time, and plenty more from the bayou 🦃
— In The Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu (@InTheBayouPod) November 25, 2025
Watch on YouTube:
https://t.co/AnpKB8sO5u
Mathieu looks at it from a player's standpoint
Most fans or even former players don't take the other side into account. LSU fans by large couldn't care if Ole Miss players are hurt by Kiffin leaving. But Mathieu takes a second to look at this from the side of a player that has given his all to his coach only for that coach to walk away.
"If I was a player at Ole Miss, I would feel some type of way," Mathieu said. "It's just kind of hard to fathom that we're having all this success, everything is going our way, and you want to leave? For the girl down the street?"
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has said that the roster has stuck together through this Kiffin drama, but Mathieu's point stands. It has to be tough for players that Kiffin would leave for a rival school in the conference when they've shown they can win big games in Oxford.
Mathieu is concerned about Kiffin's job history
Kiffin is a well-traveled coach. If he leaves Ole Miss for another coaching job, it would be his fifth college job with previous stops at Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic. The way that Kiffin left Tennessee for USC has always rubbed people the wrong way, and it was probably a major reason why he had to "settle" for Ole Miss instead of some of the jobs he wanted during that time period.
For Mathieu, those past incidents and Kiffin being willing to leave Ole Miss for another conference school, rub him the wrong way.
"Do we want the guy that's kind of showing us his disloyalty? Do I really want that guy?" he asked. Because he built the Ole Miss program, that's all his fingerprints. He's created this culture, this environment, where a lot of guys want to go play for Ole Miss. Now he's like...'Oh yeah, I took you to the altar, but now I don't want to marry you'."
Mathieu also sees it from the football side
Although his concerns are valid, Mathieu admits that Kiffin is the best candidate and that goes back to some of his earlier comments.
But, he also says that Kiffin's record is special at Ole Miss, but at LSU, he's just going to be another guy in the line of coaches that have had success with the Tigers.
"You'll be the first of your kind at Ole Miss. At LSU, you're just going to be in a line behind Saban and Miles and Orgeron. These guys have already won championships and Heisman winners and stuff like that," he concluded.