Tweets draw rebukes and apologies from Lane Kiffin, Keith Carter after Rebels’ 27-14 win over Liberty
OXFORD, Miss. — After Ole Miss defeated Liberty, 27-14, Saturday, the official twitter account of Ole Miss football made some tweets that later drew the ire of head coach Lane Kiffin and athletics director Keith Carter.
“I have no affiliation with the Ole Miss football Twitter site, even though it may sound strange, and I first learned about the tweets after my press conference when Keith Carter told me about them,” Kiffin told ESPN.
“I’m completely embarrassed that anyone would put something out there like that making it look like it was a part of Ole Miss football. It was extremely disrespectful, bush league and classless, and I apologize, even though I had nothing to do with it, to Liberty and Hugh Freeze.“
Coach Lane Kiffin on tweets appearing on Ole Miss football twitter
Following the win, the Ole Miss football account tweeted the following:
In 2013 after the Rebels notched a top recruiting class, Coach Freeze responded to accusations of improper recruiting activities by tweeting: “If you have facts about a violation, send it to compliance@olemiss.edu. If not, please do not slander these young men or insult their family.”
The Ole Miss twitter account’s attempts at comedy didn’t stop there.
The account took Coach Freeze’s “Win the Day” mantra and used it along with a picture of the Liberty head coach when he coached from a hospital bed in the press box following surgery for a potentially life-threatening strand of a staph infection, worsening a herniated disk in his back.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter also expressed his disapproval of the tweets. “These tweets were unfortunate and not who we are in Ole Miss athletics,” Carter said.
“When I found out about them, they were immediately taken down. I have spoken with [Liberty athletic director] Ian McCaw to relay my sincere apology. We will work to do better in the future.“
Ole Miss AD Keith Carter
Freeze thanks Ole Miss community
As for Coach Freeze, according to ESPN, the Liberty leader didn’t want to comment on the tweets, but he did make a point to thank Rebels for how well he and his family were tweeted.
“For Jill and I, it was an answered prayer the reception we got. We heard zero negative things, and it was incredible to visit with friends Friday and Saturday. The people there were so kind to us. Ole Miss has a really good football team, and I’m glad to see them winning again.“
Coach Hugh Freeze on how he was treated at Ole Miss
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
