Lane Kiffin takes a shot at rival SEC head coach after recent Ole Miss comments

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables didn't just take a loss on the field to Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin on Saturday -- he took another from Kiffin's press conference Monday.

Venables had commented that he "felt like we were the better team" despite Oklahoma's 34-26 home loss to Ole Miss in which the Sooners trailed almost the entire game, leading only briefly at the end of the third quarter and into the opening minutes of the fourth.

In full context, Venables added, “But at the end of the day, it's a game of performance and executing, and I thought they out-executed us."

Nonetheless, the comment struck a nerve with Kiffin, who sounded off on it Monday when asked for his thoughts on it.

"Hmm. That's an interesting take," Kiffin said. "That's a hot take. ... I wouldn't have thought that people watching would say that. I felt that, one, we won at their place, whether as a defensive coach you would normally [not] wish for, and won by eight points. And I think we left a lot out there -- I think we should have won by a couple scores.

"So I don't know how he evaluated that game that they were the better team. I mean, we had way more yards, 21 first downs to 14 and played, what, 87 plays of offense, and they had one sack and didn't force any turnovers. That's an interesting take. Whatever he needs to say."

Kiffin was just getting started, though. A reporter moved on to another question, but Kiffin was still thinking about Venables' comments and interjected.

"Maybe they had the better team last year, too, when we beat them. Sorry. Maybe he had the better team at Oklahoma when we beat them 55-19 in the national championship. Maybe. Maybe he had the better team at Clemson when we beat them 45-40 in the national championship at Alabama. Next question, my bad. You got me on that."

Lane Kiffin on Brent Venables saying Oklahoma has a better team than Ole Miss:

"Interesting take. That's a hot take.

"Maybe they had the better team last year, too."

"Maybe he had the better team at Oklahoma when we beat them 55-19 in the national championship."

"Maybe he had… pic.twitter.com/lchV463Vou
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 27, 2025

As Kiffin noted, Ole Miss beat Oklahoma last year as well, 26-14. The 55-19 game was the national championship game after the 2004 season, when Kiffin was the passing game coordinator/WRs coach at USC and Venables was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. The 45-40 national championship win for Alabama was after the 2015 season, when Kiffin was the OC there and Venables the DC at Clemson.

As for the game Saturday, which moved Ole Miss to 7-1 overall and up to No. 7 in the AP top 25 poll and Oklahoma to 6-2 and down to No. 18, the Rebels had a 431-359 advantage in offensive yards and a 1-0 edge on turnovers.