Lane Kiffin reacts to Nick Saban's praise of Ole Miss: 'He's now become the rat poisoner'

Lane Kiffin believes the tables have turned when it comes to Nick Saban and rat poison. The former Alabama coach used the phrase often when he was still in the profession, meaning to be wary of comments from the media and fans, both good and bad.

But Saban has now switched sides following his retirement this past offseason and is an analyst for ESPN on College GameDay. He made a bold claim about Kiffin’s Ole Miss team on the show last week, calling the Rebels the best team in the SEC.

However, as a former Saban assistant, Kiffin knows better than to fall for that.

“He’s now become the rat poisoner then,” he joked. “He’s doing exactly what he complained about. That changes every week based on how you play. We’ve been playing great, but we’ve gotta do that again. Just told me after the Georgia game that the success of the pass doesn’t mean you’re gonna have success in the future. It doesn’t dictate that. You’ve gotta do it again.”

Ole Miss has now won three straight games, including a 28-10 victory against Georgia in Week 11. They have a chance to finish tied for second in the SEC standing, which would result in a tiebreaker scenario as they hope to make the conference championship game.

In order to make that a reality, however, the Rebels will need to win their final two games of the season. That begins with a matchup against Florida in The Swamp at noon ET this Saturday, and Kiffin isn’t taking the Gators lightly.

“I’m telling you, this is a big challenge man,” he said. “What were they, 4-5 last week? The crowd was electric. It looked like the conference championship was on the line. They play really well at home. Look at their home and road record since COVID. Very different how these guys play at home and how they play on the road.

“So you can wipe that Texas game out. People want to say, ‘This is how they played at Texas.’ Well, they didn’t have the quarterback and they’re two totally different teams at home and on the road.”

The Rebels are beginning to gain some traction as a potential College Football Playoff game entering that game. However, Lane Kiffin isn’t going to let the rat poison affect him, even if it is coming from Nick Saban.