Urban Meyer didn’t hold back when the co-host asked about Lane Kiffin’s Vanity Fair interview “racial segregation” comment on why he ditched Ole Miss to take the head coaching job at LSU. On the latest episode of the Triple Option podcast, the former Buckeyes head coach decided to unload on Kiffin.

“Recent comments about the racial profile. I don’t know if [Kiffin] should have went there, you know, I don’t once started going places, and you know, just say great things about the school you’re at, they gave you a chance, but you know, Coach Kiffin has some issues now,” Meyer said.

Meyer believes Kiffin went “way too far” by dragging his old school through the mud just to look better. College coaching breakups happen all the time. But using a community’s sensitive historical struggles as a retroactive shield to justify a selfish exit is low. Meyer made it pretty clear that Kiffin should have kept it purely professional.

For a lot of folks in Oxford, Kiffin’s explanation felt like someone using real pain as a talking point, not a lived truth. Meyer’s point isn’t just about politics. It’s about timing and respect. When you’ve spent years profiting from a program, then suddenly frame your exit as a stand against racism, it looks less like conscience and more like a cover story. That’s the kind of thing that makes people question his judgment, and it’s why Meyer says he “has some issues.”

The hypocrisy of it all is what really rubbed the folks the wrong way. Kiffin spent six seasons at Ole Miss, happily banking millions of dollars as the state’s highest‑paid public employee. He didn’t once raise a public alarm about those deep systemic issues while the wins were rolling in.

That’s why Urban’s criticism sticks. When you cash the biggest checks in the state but stay quiet on the very issues you later use to explain your exit, it feels less like a moral awakening and more like a convenience. For Meyer, and for a lot of people in college football, those optics speak louder than any apology. It’s not just about the words; it’s about when he chose to say them and whom they really hurt along the way.

The Hall of Fame HC noted that Kiffin still has some serious maturity “issues” despite obviously being a “heck of a coach.” Even though Kiffin scrambled to issue a public apology via On3, claiming he was just explaining a recruiting narrative rather than taking a calculated shot, Meyer made it clear the bridge was permanently burned.

An apology can soften the blow, but it doesn’t erase the impression that Kiffin reached for a heavy, loaded topic when he needed a clean way out. For Meyer, that moment exposes a pattern: a man who can win games but still stumbles when it comes to how he treats the place that gave him his shot. That’s the core of what “has some issues” really means, not just the words, but the instinct behind them.

Meyer hit him with the challenge: “Just go try to win a game (against the Ole Miss Rebels), I know that probably won’t happen.” Despite having one of the most expensive rosters ($45 million) in all of American non-professional sports, Urban apparently believes Lane Kiffin will scramble against Ole Miss when LSU heads to Oxford on September 19.

The oddsmakers are expecting a nail-biter when these two SEC rivals clash in Oxford. Right now, sportsbooks like FanDuel have LSU opened as a super slim 1.5-point road favorite. This game is basically a coin flip. The moneyline is basically even money, sitting at -111 for LSU and -108 for Ole Miss. Oddsmakers also set the over/under total at 58.5 points, so they are definitely anticipating plenty of fireworks and scoring drives on Saturday night.

College football experts are calling this game the ultimate mental toughness test for Lane Kiffin and his new squad. Analysts point out that LSU is walking straight into what will easily be one of the most toxic, deafening, and hostile stadium environments in recent college sports history.

The consensus among pundits is that the Ole Miss crowd will give the Rebels an emotional boost because of the comments he made about them.

However, Pete Golding has to make sure his players don’t get too hyped up and commit dumb, costly penalties. Even though Kiffin packed up his bags, he failed to poach some of his best players. The Rebels still have Trinidad Chambliss and RB Kevon Lacey. The last time Chambliss played against them, he shredded LSU’s defense for 314 passing yards, and he’s expected to ball out again the same.

If we go pure band-for-band, LSU should win the game, but considering everything that happened, the emotional storm brewing in Oxford will be too much for Kiffin to handle on his old turf.