Lane Kiffin enjoys a celebrated career at the Ole Miss Rebels, but off the field, he’s going through a rough patch. The Kiffin family is quietly enduring an emotional storm, marked by love, loss, and grief, that no playbook can prepare you for. The past two years have been hard on the fam. Grief took over with Monte Kiffin’s demise last year. The family hadn’t recovered from the shock yet and received another jolt 11 months later when Kiffin’s mother, Robin, passed away. It was a lot to process for Coach Kiffin’s family.

“Ma Kiffin,” as she was dearly called, stood by Monte Kiffin for over 34 years of marriage, feeding the football madness with love and care. “[say] hi to Pops. I’m glad your broken heart can be healed with him again,” Lane said, announcing his mother’s death. And since then, the whole family has been in mourning. On Friday, reminiscing about her, Lane’s sister-in-law, Angela, shared an emotional tribute to her dear mother-in-law.

“Sad day saying goodbye to my one-of-a-kind mother-in-law today. Look at these beautiful grandkids who loved her so much!! Doesn’t seem real. We love you, Mimi,” she penned a heartfelt note on her Instagram story. And honestly, football wives have stood like an iron pillar for their partners—the grounding anchor in the chaos. Miss Terry was beside the G.O.A.T. Nick Saban, through thick and thin, supporting him both on and off the turf.

And so did Robin Kiffin. “She understood the time and energy that football coaches put into their jobs,” Kiffin recalled. “Sometimes you see wives who get jealous of that, but she really got it.” Once, ESPN caught up with the key figure, not to Monte Kiffin but to his wife, curious and eager to know the BTS of juggling it all—raising three kids and the football passion. Her response? Full of charm and wit. “Don’t fight football; Buy a good suitcase; You gotta have faith and a big kitchen.”

She was the anchor that kept everyone together. So, a Thanksgiving tradition was born—her playbook that kept the family together. “No mom wants to cook all day on Thanksgiving and have everyone leave the table after 10 minutes,” said Robin. “So to keep people at dinner, I had them write down their three wishes on scraps of paper, and we put them in a hat. Then we went around the table and had to guess who said what. There was one that was always easiest to guess: ‘I wanna go to the Super Bowl.’ That was Monte’s.” And oh, boy, did that wish come true. Monte Kiffin etched his legacy into NFL history with his iconic “Tampa 2” defensive scheme, helping lead Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl in 2002. Over the course of two decades in the NFL, he became one of the most respected defensive minds in the game.

Lane Kiffin’s emotional tribute to his parents

Losing a parent is difficult, but losing both parents within a year is more than enough to bear. The Ole Miss community was beside the Kiffin family as they were recovering from their grief. The messages and prayers kept on pouring. One individual’s heartfelt comment read, “Sorry for your loss, Coach. May your memories give you comfort always.”

“Losing both parents in the last year has been very challenging,” Kiffin said during the SEC Media Days, reflecting how deeply the pain carries with him.“Thinking on the way over here about my mother and how grateful I am to her. Coaches’ wives are the glue that holds everything together. Really grateful to my parents.”

Looking back at his childhood, one memory still tugs at Lane Kiffin’s heart. His father, Monte, had an intense and demanding coaching career, especially during the season, leaving little to no time for family. But Robin found a way to bridge the gap. She made a rule that Lane and his siblings could stay up late on Monday nights to watch Monday Night Football, because that was the only time they’d catch a glimpse of their dad on the sidelines. “She understood the time and energy that football coaches put into their jobs,” he added. “Sometimes you see wives who get jealous of that, but she really got it.”

As Lane Kiffin continues to lead on the field, we hope he finds comfort in the strength his parents instilled in him, and knowing the Ole Miss family and the wider football community are standing beside him as he navigates one of his life’s toughest journeys.