Ole Miss Rebels Coach Lane Kiffin vs. DeSanto Rollins 'Heated Exchange' AUDIO Emerges In Lawsuit
OXFORD, Miss. -- Audio from a heated exchange between Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin and player DeSanto Rollins has been released, according to Front Office Sports.
Rollins filed a lawsuit against Kiffin and the University of Mississippi in September alleging racial discrimination on the part of Kiffin and Ole Miss, discrimination on the basis of disability, gross negligence, and more. You can read details on the filing from the Clarion Ledger here.
The publication Front Office Sports posted the audio to X, the platform previously known as Twitter, on Thursday, and you can read and listen to the interaction below.
"If you would have come here when you kept getting messages the head coach wants to talk to you, and you say 'I'm not ready to talk to him,'" Kiffin said.
“I wasn’t,” Rollins responded.
“What (expletive) world do you live in,” Kiffin fired back.
“I don’t understand why you have to be disrespectful, honestly,” Rollins said.
“Get out of here,” Kiffin said. “You’re off the team. You’re done. See ya. See Ya. Go. Go. And guess what, we can kick you off the team. Go read your (expletive) rights about mental health. We can kick you off the team for not showing up. When the head coach asks to meet with you, and you don’t show up for weeks? Ok, we can remove you from the team. It’s called being a (expletive), it's called hiding behind (expletive) and not showing up to work."
Rollins is reportedly seeking "$10 million in compensatory damages from Kiffin and Ole Miss, and $30 million in punitive damages from Kiffin. He is also seeking a temporary restraining order, as well as an injunction reinstating him.
"(He) remains on scholarship," Ole Miss said in its statement in September. "In addition, he continues to have the opportunity to receive all of the resources and advantages that are afforded a student-athlete at the university."
Rollins' mother reportedly asked for Ole Miss trainer Pat Jernigan to find a counselor for her son, and Rollins met with Josie Nicholson, assistant athletic director for sports psychology, on Feb. 28. It was then that the above interaction is alleged to have occurred.
According to Rollins, he did not receive a mental health evaluation after suffering a concussion in the 2022 Grove Bowl, and his mental health suffered more after sustaining other injuries down the road.
He also stated that coach Randall Joyner "pressured him to transfer following the 2022 season and that Kiffin met with him in February to tell him he would be moving to the scout team offensive line because he wouldn't transfer, and that if Rollins didn't like it, he should quit."
As a result of the mental health strain, Rollins states that he suffered from symptoms such as depression, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, and hives.
These allegations are noteworthy given the fact that much has been made about the Ole Miss staff's certification in mental health first aid in the offseason.
Ole Miss has claimed that it was the first program in the country to reach that mark, but Rollins also claims that Kiffin has never kicked a white player off the team for requesting or taking a break and that women's volleyball players and white softball players at the university had been allowed to take breaks due to mental health issues.
