Lane Kiffin Commends Auburn, Golesh Ahead of Return to 'Magical' Jordan-Hare

The Auburn Tigers have several extremely important games in Alex Golesh’s first season on the Plains, but perhaps there are few that are more intriguing than their clash against LSU in October.

Considering it’s the latest renewal of a rivalry that hasn’t been played in three years, featuring an opposing head coach who has a somewhat dramatic history with Auburn, the game could be one of the most electric home atmospheres in recent memory.

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin has been one of the hottest names of the offseason after leaving Ole Miss and heading to Baton Rouge before the Rebels’ run in the College Football Playoff last year, and his appearance at the main podium during SEC Media Days was certainly among the most-anticipated moments heading into this week.

There always seems to be a question about Auburn, and, well, sure enough, Auburn and its new coaching staff were brought up once again on Thursday morning.

And this time, instead of addressing social media semantics with former head coach Hugh Freeze, like he did last year, Kiffin actually relayed a supportive message of confidence in Golesh and company.

“I think Auburn is a great program,” Kiffin said. “I think they have new energy with the coaching staff and a really good offensive system coming in and keeping DJ Durkin on defense.”

Kiffin hasn’t faced Auburn since Ole Miss defeated the Tigers three years ago in Freeze’s first season at the helm, but he hasn’t forgotten how challenging the environment at Jordan-Hare Stadium is, even amidst the worst stretch in program history.

“I think that they're going to be a really improved program, and that's a really hard place to play always and really gives people a lot of problems,” Kiffin said. “Kind of a magical stadium that magical things happen in.”

“That's one of many extremely competitive games we have, including really for the first time that you have five road conference games,” Kiffin added.

Kiffin’s return to Jordan-Hare Stadium comes a few years after an interesting series of events following the firing of Bryan Harsin, when he was one of Auburn’s top candidates during its coaching search.

Obviously, the Tigers went on to hire Freeze, but it recently became public that Kiffin was planning on taking the Auburn job before his daughter Landry convinced him to stay in Oxford. Since then, he has been anything but silent on Twitter, posting light-hearted jabs toward Freeze and the program as a whole.

Thus, his return to the Plains in the purple and gold will certainly be something to watch.

In terms of stakes on the field, the matchup between the two squads of Tigers could be huge for Auburn.

LSU comes into town during the toughest month of the season for Auburn, a four-game stretch that includes road tests to Tennessee, Georgia, and Ole Miss. If Auburn manages to beat Florida and Vanderbilt on its home turf, it’s a realistic possibility that the Tigers start the season 4-0 before heading to Knoxville and Athens.

From there, it’s likely that Auburn falls to the Volunteers and the Bulldogs to kick off October, which means that a win against LSU would avoid a three-game skid and push the Tigers to a 5-2 record before their trip to Oxford.

In terms of pure “vibes” and feeling amongst the fanbase, a home victory over one of college football’s most storied programs could inject levels amounts of optimism that Auburn hasn't seen in a half-decade.

It seems like forever since the Tigers have finished on the winning side of an important SEC game, especially in front of their home fans, so acheiving that in Golesh’s inaugural year would officially put Auburn back on track to national prominence.

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