​Three months before Lane Kiffin enraged the Ole Miss football fanbase by leaving for LSU, ESPN aired a documentary about him that showcased what seemed to be a genuine love for Oxford.Kiffin, now settled in as the coach for rival Tigers, sat down with ESPN’s Marty Smith and Ryan McGee to explain things in a recorded interview on SEC Network that aired Aug. 10.The film was titled “The Many Lives of Lane Kiffin.” In it, Kiffin said his six years coaching at Ole Miss were the best of his life on and off the field, and that he needed Oxford a lot more than Oxford needed him.McGee created the documentary. Because Kiffin left Oxford for Baton Rouge shortly after the film aired, McGee asked Kiffin if he was being truthful in the way he talked about Ole Miss.”I can totally see why they would ask that,” Kiffin responded. “Obviously I see my side. Making a decision to take a different job, in my opinion, on my side of it, has nothing to do with anything that was said in that special.”Kiffin left Ole Miss two days after the 2025 regular season ended with a 38-19 win over Mississippi State. The Rebels had secured a spot in the College Football Playoff. Once Kiffin told Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter his intention to leave for LSU, he was not allowed to coach in the CFP.Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding was promoted to be the head coach in Kiffin’s absence. He led Ole Miss to two wins in the College Football Playoff before the Rebels lost to Miami in the CFP semifinals.Kiffin said the move doesn’t make his portrayal in the documentary dishonest. It was a matter of the circumstances changing.”You have a new circumstance,” Kiffin said. “A new decision came up. And you take a different job. You didn’t go against things you said; values, principles or anything. Two things can be right and true at the exact same time.” Kiffin will return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for what is sure to be a fiery game in Week 3 on Sept. 19 (6:30 p.m., ABC). In the interview, Kiffin said he’s content in his decision. He said he liked how LSU told him he would have full control of the program, and that LSU’s NIL operation was set up to build rosters for years to come.He also said he knows a large piece of his story will be judged by how his tenure at LSU goes.”It was the right decision to take the job,” Kiffin said. “There is never a minute, second in the day that I’m at LSU that I don’t feel the power of LSU. That I don’t feel the magnitude of LSU.”Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Was Lane Kiffin truthful about his love for Ole Miss, Oxford? LSU coach explains