College football, with its soaring highs and crashing lows, often leaves one group consistently disappointed: the fans. The recent transfer of Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss to LSU perfectly encapsulates this modern reality.
The Airport Scene: A Metaphor for Modern College Football
The image of disgruntled Ole Miss fans hurling insults at Kiffin as he boarded a private plane to LSU is a stark representation of the current state of college football. A coach, lured by a lucrative contract, abandoning a program and its loyal supporters. This scene highlights the growing disconnect between the sport's business side and the passion of its fanbase.
These are boom times if you are a promising high school player, a college administrator with access to the ever-increasing flow of athletic dollars, or a coach with opportunities to jump to a new program or cash in on a fat buyout. But if you are a die-hard fan, these are indeed rough times.
The Cost of Professionalization
The influx of billions in TV revenue has transformed college football. Coaches are now the highest-paid public employees in many states, and athletic departments are spending lavishly on facilities. While schools are now paying players, the financial burden is increasingly falling on the fans through fundraising campaigns, season ticket price hikes, and added game day charges. Universities are reaping massive rewards from media rights, but they are spending even more on coaches, players, administrators, and upgraded facilities. This begs the question: where does a school go when it needs even more?
Kiffin's Perspective: Not a Villain, Not a Savior
Kiffin's experience highlights the absurdity of the situation. He was met with anger and hostility by Ole Miss fans, some of whom he claimed chased him down the highway. Yet, upon arriving in Baton Rouge, he was greeted as a savior. Kiffin is simply doing his job. He's not a villain or a savior, just a football coach. He coaxes 18 to 22-year-old young men to chase around an oblong piece of pigskin on fall Saturdays.
The incident shows the intensity of the fans' feelings, but it also puts in perspective that the coach is doing his job for himself and his family.