Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ribbing by UA gets Kiffin nod
Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin didn’t get upset when the University of Arkansas football program’s Twitter account had some fun at his expense after the Razorbacks beat the Rebels 33-21 last week.
The Arkansas football account on Saturday night tweeted a video of a toy train — with an Ole Miss mask on the front like the one Kiffin wears — going off the tracks in reference to the Razorbacks’ defense forcing seven turnovers to derail “The Lane Train.”
“Creative Thumbs up. Congrats Very well coached Team @RazorbackFB,” Kiffin wrote on Sunday. “See ya next year. @OleMissFB.”
Kiffin also responded to a tweet by the SEC Network after Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said Monday on the radio show “SEC This Morning” that redshirt freshman walkon cornerback Hudson Clark will be placed on scholarship in January after he had three interceptions against Ole Miss.
“Happy we can help kids out @RazorbackFB congrats!!!” Kiffin tweeted.
Kiffin’s good-humored responses to the Arkansas tweets aren’t what you’d expect from a coach after a tough loss.
“I don’t think like a lot of coaches, as I think you probably know,” Kiffin said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. “I just think you should be real. What would you do if you weren’t a coach if you saw something neat like [the train video]?
“I joke about things on Twitter, so if you dish it out, you’d better be able to take it. I thought it was pretty funny what they did with the train and the mask.”
Kiffin said he truly is happy Clark earned a scholarship.
“I thought that was just a really cool story for the kid,” Kiffin said. “I know most coaches would be too pissed about the game, but the kid played a great game, did a great job and got a scholarship. That’s pretty neat.”