The SEC never fails to deliver on drama. In an off-season otherwise limited to preparing teams for the upcoming season, the conference saw two of its head coaches in the news for calling out Ole Miss. The saga involving Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin seemed over [for now], but the Rebels are not finished yet. They want the SEC to discipline the Texas and LSU head coaches for what they said about Ole Miss.

As per On3’s Chris Low, a potential fine for both former Kiffin and Sarkisian is now reportedly under discussion as Ole Miss and SEC officials review whether current SEC Bylaws 10.2.3 and 10.5.2 were violated.

SEC Bylaw 10.2.3 states: “Coaches and staff are required to advocate for the positive attributes of their own university and must avoid making derogatory statements about another member institution’s programs, facilities, or education opportunities.”

Bylaw 10.5.2 states: “Coaches and administrators are strictly forbidden from public criticism of other member institutions, their staffs, or players.”

Although there has been no public announcement on the issue by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, there’s speculation that he might address it at the upcoming spring meeting in Florida this week.

The first spark in the whole controversy was lit by Lane Kiffin, who took a shot at his former program while discussing recruiting at LSU. As per Kiffin, he didn’t face certain questions in Baton Rouge that he had heard from parents and grandparents of Black athletes in Oxford.

“‘Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’ That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana,” said Kiffin in a May 2026 interview with Vanity Fair. “Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’s diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation.’ And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world. I just hope [my comment] comes across respectful to Ole Miss… There are some things that I’m saying that are factual, they’re not shots,” added Kiffin.

Conferences usually issue reprimands and fines for criticizing referees, but weaponizing bylaws over petty offseason media jabs, program trashing, or institutional insults has several notable precedents in college football. In 2022, following the renewal of the “Backyard Brawl” rivalry, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi did an interview where he heavily criticized his former offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple, and took shots at the culture and playing style of the West Virginia Mountaineers.

West Virginia athletic officials reportedly complained to the ACC and Big 12 offices, citing conference codes of sportsmanship regarding public disrespect of opposing institutions. Narduzzi was forced to issue a public clarification to avoid a formal reprimand from the ACC under their ethical conduct policies.

Then in 2016, following a double-overtime loss to Ohio State, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh used his postgame press conference to point out the Big Ten officiating, saying he was “bitterly disappointed” and detailed specific plays. However, his comments went beyond the whistle, implying institutional bias within the conference structure favoring Ohio State. The Big Ten strictly enforced its sportsmanship policy. Harbaugh was issued a formal public reprimand and the university was slammed with a $10,000 fine for violating the conference’s absolute prohibition on public disparagement.

Kiffin is no stranger to these bylaws himself. While coaching for Ole Miss, he used social media to retweet a photo highlighting a missed call during an Auburn game. The SEC immediately invoked SEC Bylaw 10.5 (governing Sportsmanship and Conduct), hit Kiffin with a $25,000 fine, and issued a stern public reprimand. He faced a near-identical $5,000 fine and reprimand from Conference USA in 2019 while at FAU for tagging the conference on social media over bad officiating.

To his credit, Kiffin later apologized for his latest comments on Ole Miss, but the damage was already done. And unfortunately, we were just getting started. Steve Sarkisian took another angle to call out Ole Miss.

Sarkisian also added to this feud

Sarkisian’s statement was more of a critique of the current state of college football, describing it as a “wild-west culture” where winning outweighs everything else. But cornering Ole Miss wasn’t a good idea. It’s important to point out that Sarkisian’s interview with USA Today was conducted in March. But that timing got lost in how it all unfolded.

“At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player’s academic credit hours,” Steve Sarkisian said in his interview with USA Today. “You may be a semester from graduating, but you’re going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree.”

Steve Sarkisian received heavy backlash for the now-viral “basket weaving” comment, with many fans and analysts criticizing the remark almost immediately. Sarkisian eventually issued a public statement because of the controversy. He clarified his intentions and insisted that his comments were never meant to disrespect Ole Miss.

“We were talking about the inequalities in college football… the only reason the Ole Miss thing came up is that two of my best friends were there, Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding,” he said. “…I probably shouldn’t have used basket weaving as my example for the class. Macroeconomics? I don’t give a damn. We have yoga at UT, but the class part of it was irrelevant.”

Well, the damage was already done, and now the two friends must wait for the SEC to make its next move.