Inside Lane Kiffin's return: How Oxford is preparing for college football's 'agent of chaos'

Inside Lane Kiffin's return: How Oxford is preparing for college football's 'agent of chaos'

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Inside Lane Kiffin's return: How Oxford is preparing for college football's 'agent of chaos'
Lane Kiffin

Inside Lane Kiffin's return: How Oxford is preparing for college football's 'agent of chaos' originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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LSU coach Lane Kiffin addressed one of the concerns for his highly-anticipated return to Ole Miss this weekend. 

"I guess there is real safety issues and stuff – and so there are people that have a plan for that," Kiffin said at his press conference Monday. "It is what it is."  

Breck Jones, the Public Information Officer at The Oxford Police Department, said the department is addressing those issues ahead of Kiffin's return before the showdown between No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 7 LSU on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. 

"That's obviously a portion of this," Jones told The Sporting News. "There is a lot of anticipation with them coming back, but Ole Miss-LSU is a big rivalry game."

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How Oxford is preparing for Lane Kiffin's return

Jones said there will be additional security at The Square in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, including 19 mounted officers. 

"We're having additional mounted patrol units join our patrol area in the downtown square area," Jones told SN. 

The Oxford police department is not in charge of security inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry joked that Ole Miss might need to call the National Guard, but Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter dismissed that notion on Super Talk Mississippi Media this week. The National Guard will not be in Oxford.

Carter said there has been great collaboration with the Oxford Police Department, the University of Mississippi Police Department and Lafayette County Sheriff's Department to make sure the Ole Miss-LSU game is safe.  

"These big gatherings are susceptible to security issues, and so, we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to protect the people who are coming to the game, our team, our coaches, and our staff," Carter said. 

Carter also said at this time there are no plans for President Donald Trump to attend the game.  

"We have not heard anything from President Trump's camp, officially,"  Carter said. "I've kind of heard the rumors as well. There are some Ole Miss folks that are close to the president, and they've mentioned that could potentially happen. Obviously, that would be a big undertaking from the standpoint of logistics."

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Carter said fans need to plan to get to the game earlier than expected.

"I would encourage everybody that's coming into town to be a little bit more patient than normal," Carter said. "Try to get to the game early and avoid some of the rush right before kickoff," he said.

Jones told SN the downtown Oxford area will be crowded, but that is to be expected for the Ole Miss-LSU game. 

"It's always some of our biggest crowds every time they come to town," Jones said. "We're anticipating a massive crowd – maybe our biggest – but we know that LSU weekend is always going to be a busy weekend here in Oxford." 

According to USA Today, Sean Tindell, Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, "described the games as an ‘all hands on deck' situation. He said the number of state police officers on and around the campus will be tripled from that of a normal game.

"I've got confidence in the fans of Ole Miss and LSU ultimately," Tindell said via USA Today. "As competitive as it is and everybody wants their team to win, to handle themselves appropriately and act right.

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How Oxford PD is preparing for Lane Kiffin's return 

On May 12, when it was announced the Ole Miss-LSU game would be a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, the Oxford Police Department tweeted "Yay!" using a GIF from "The Office." 

The department has had time to prepare for this game. Jones said the goal will be to minimize incidents of unlawful behavior, and that the Oxford Police Department is prepared for the weekend even if it cannot predict the reaction to the game. 

"We can't control those kinds of situations," Jones said. "It's up to us to mitigate them when it does occur. We feel like we're prepared and our staff is prepared and we do a great job of maintaining safety for everyone that enters our community.

"I mean, there is always every fan base that has fans that take it too far and sometimes that happens, but for the most part our fans can get along with just about anybody in Oxford," Jones said. 

The Grove – the traditional tailgate spot for Ole Miss fans – also should be more lively than usual. CBS national college football writer John Talty – author of the book "Lane Being Lane" – expects that area to be an "all-time Grove experience." Talty does not know what to expect. 

"Usually they are that kind of place where it's, ‘Have a bite of chicken; come in and have a drink' and all that," Talty said. "I don't know if that will be the case for LSU fans. We'll see."

ESPN's "College GameDay" also will be in town, so it will be a long day for all the first responders in Oxford. Jones said the Oxford Police Department is prepared for the entire day. 

"We want everyone to come here and have a good time and have a safe time," he said. "If anybody sees anything suspicious, reach out to us."

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