The “Lane Train” has officially pulled out of the station in Oxford, and one specific passenger isn't surprised it went off the rails. Lane Kiffin is heading to Baton Rouge to take over at LSU, leaving Ole Miss after a historic 11-win season. While the move shakes up the SEC, it also serves as a massive “I told you so” moment for Ole Miss reporter Ben Garrett.
Garrett, who covers Ole Miss football, found himself at the center of a viral storm last month when he questioned Kiffin's loyalty. In a podcast segment that now feels prophetic, Garrett dropped a Ludacris lyric to describe Kiffin’s wandering eye: “Can’t turn a hoe into a housewife.”
Kiffin didn't take kindly to the metaphor. Following the Rebels' dominant 38-19 victory over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Nov. 28, Kiffin famously confronted Garrett on the field via the Athletic, asking, “You wanna walk in here and call me a hoe? We'll see how that goes.”
Well, we've seen how it goes. Kiffin is gone, and Garrett is taking a victory lap on the wreckage.
“The Lane Train is a lot of fun when you’re on it, but it always crashes and crashes in an absolutely messy, epic way,” Garrett said recently regarding the departure in conversation with the Athletic. “Lane is who he is. Ole Miss just wanted to win. It just wanted to be the best version of itself, and he rejected it all anyway, because that’s Lane.”
It’s a bitter end to a season that looked perfect on paper. In that final Egg Bowl, Kiffin’s offense was electric. Despite the on-field success and the uncomfortable post-game presser where Kiffin tried to claim the moral high ground, he ultimately proved Garrett’s crude metaphor right.
