Lane Kiffin responds to former NFL referee criticism of Brian Kelly

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin jokingly responded to a former NFL referee’s criticism of Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on Wednesday. Former referee Terry McAulay was critical of Kelly not being penalized for arguing with officials “on the field” instead of on the sideline.

Lane Kiffin jokes about former referee criticism

In a post on social media made by McAulay on Monday, the former referee explained why he thought running into the kicker was the correct call in Notre Dame’s game against Florida State. In the game, Florida State’s return team ran into the Notre Dame punter in the fourth quarter.

Kelly wanted the call to be a 15-yard penalty, but the officiating crew ruled it a five-yard penalty for incidental contact. Kelly was upset at their decision and was arguing with referees on the field at the time.

McAulay revisited his post on Monday to add his thoughts on Kelly’s actions.

“There is one more aspect of this play that needs to be mentioned and that is this year’s point of emphasis on unsportsmanlike conduct when coaches are ‘on the field’ protesting. The language is clear and the [Notre Dame] coaches should have been penalized.”

Kiffin, still upset with officiating crews that called four targeting penalties in Ole Miss’ game against Louisville, responded to the referee’s message with a single emoji rolling his eyes at the referee’s criticism.

🙄 https://t.co/lrs62gJAyj

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) September 8, 2021

Kiffin and McAulay back and forth

“We just need this Big Ten officiating crew to teach us how to tackle because obviously, we don’t know how,” Lane Kiffin told ESPN at halftime of Ole Miss’ season opener. Kiffin was upset at what he thought were incorrect calls for targeting that saw two of his players ejected during the game.

McAulay stepped in with his opinion on Kiffin’s comments Tuesday morning.

“It is not the officials’ job to coach players proper technique,” McAulay shared. “The rules for targeting have been in place for nine years and most coaches know how to teach. What is a foul for targeting is not going to change.”

While that was the end of their comments on Ole Miss’ targeting calls, Kiffin wasn’t quite finished responding to McAulay on social media.

In a follow-up post made by McAulay on Wednesday, he defended his criticism of Kelly by sharing a video from last season as proof of why the rule change was needed.

In the video he shared, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell ran onto the field during a timeout to yell at officials for what he felt was a missed offsides call. McAulay claims situations like that are why coaches must remain on the sideline to argue calls and not run after referees.