JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
College football is getting ready for what could be an all-time grudge match. Tomorrow, the No. 8 ranked University of Mississippi hosts No. 7 Louisiana State in the annual Magnolia Bowl. It's always a bitter rivalry for the Southeastern Conference foes, but this year, it is off the charts, all because of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin. Last year, Kiffin led Ole Miss to its greatest season and dreams of a national championship, but he bolted for LSU before the playoffs even began, which is making for an icy reception in Mississippi this weekend, as Steve Futterman reports from Oxford.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: This is the moment Mississippi fans haven't quite gotten over yet...
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LANE KIFFIN: Leaving Ole Miss was extremely difficult.
FUTTERMAN: ...Lane Kiffin announcing 10 months ago that he was taking over at LSU.
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KIFFIN: I'm very honored to be the head coach of LSU.
FUTTERMAN: Here on the streets of Oxford, it's all anyone wants to talk about.
RHONDA LOEB: So this game is personal.
FUTTERMAN: Rhonda Loeb is an Ole Miss graduate.
LOEB: We all feel like we got slighted by the way Lane left. He handled the situation poorly.
FUTTERMAN: Do you think he's a good person?
LOEB: It's not really my place to judge for that.
FUTTERMAN: Well, I'm allowing you to.
LOEB: Then no.
FUTTERMAN: OK.
LOEB: I do not think he's a good person. I think he - all he cares about is Lane.
FUTTERMAN: Her husband, Ronnie, has never liked Kiffin. He won, yes. But Kiffin, he says, has a knack for flashy exits.
RONNIE: He was fired by the Raiders, fired by USC on the tarmac. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hi. Welcome in, sir.
FUTTERMAN: Thank you.
This is the Ajax Diner, a popular hangout for Ole Miss fans. On Thursday, we approached a man sitting alone, having lunch. It turned out to be Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi.
HALEY BARBOUR: I suspect when he comes out on the field, the Ole Miss fans will stand up and turn their back on him 'cause he turned his back on us. I think he's a narcissist, and nobody matters in his opinion but him.
FUTTERMAN: A mile down the road, I'm now standing in the Grove, the picturesque 10-acre centerpiece of the Ole Miss campus, featuring century-old oak trees. Here, the feelings toward Lane Kiffin are just as strong.
BAILEY WOOD: I'm not a big fan (laughter)...
FUTTERMAN: Why?
WOOD: ...Like everybody else. I just feel betrayed.
FUTTERMAN: Bailey Wood is a graduate student studying sports management.
Am I correct if I guess that a year ago, you were probably a big fan of Lane Kiffin?
WOOD: Probably (laughter).
FUTTERMAN: Is this like a jilted girlfriend-boyfriend type thing to some degree?
WOOD: I guess so. It does feel like a big breakup.
FUTTERMAN: The level of anger, of course, depends on who you talk to. The move to LSU boosted Kiffin's annual salary from $9 million to 13 million. Cruz McHarris says he gets it.
CRUZ MCHARRIS: I feel like anybody would move schools for, like, a ton of money. I mean, it's a job, so he's going to pick which one makes more money.
FUTTERMAN: Now after all the build-up, all the talk, it's time to play the game. Marshall Ramsey is a former editor at Mississippi Today and teaches at Ole Miss.
MARSHALL RAMSEY: It's literally a gumbo. You got a little Southern Gothic. You got some Greek tragedy. You've got the whole Lane Kiffin - oh, what a great story.
FUTTERMAN: Security will be intense. Barricades are popping up, and law enforcement from Louisiana and even Alabama have been deployed to town. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Oxford, Mississippi. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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