Nov 28, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin looks on in the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Editor's note: This story has been updated with Lane Kiffin's direct comments on his confrontation.

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin had a postgame encounter with a Mississippi reporter following the Rebels' 38-19 Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State on Friday, Nov. 28.

The encounter came near the Rebels' tunnel at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. Kiffin returned to the field to speak with On3 Ole Miss affiliate reporter Ben Garrett face-to-face before returning to the locker room.

It appears the Ole Miss coach took issue with Garrett using a derogatory term on a podcast to describe Kiffin weighing his options on his coaching future. That has included entertaining offers from outside Ole Miss, most notably LSU.

The encounter also came after Kiffin told ESPN's Taylor McGregor he has not decided on whether he's going to stay at Ole Miss or take one of the open head coaching jobs in college football, adding that he has "a lot of praying" to do. He also spoke to being called a derogatory term in his postgame news conference, saying "that's a different level of stuff."

Ole Miss picked up its 11th win of the season on Friday, the first time the Rebels have accomplished that feat in program history. The Rebels will now wait to learn whether they can make the SEC championship game next week or begin preparing immediately for a likely College Football Playoff berth.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lane Kiffin confronts Ole Miss reporter who described him as derogatory term

Reporting by John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect