In the wake of loss, Ole Miss Rebels HC Lane Kiffin finds a skyward sign of solace. Lane lost his father, the great Monte Kiffin, at the age of 84 on July 11. But the universe has signs showing up for the HC to traverse through the difficult times to make a constant reminder that Monte is watching over his son. As Lane shared a picture of a rainbow on X, you know it’s his proud father showering blessings on him. After all, it’s because of Monte, the college football world has come together. On July 17, it was Florida Gators HC Billy Napier who paid tribute to the legend.

Lane might be missing the physical presence of his father, but the Ole Miss HC knows where to look for his father. Up above in the sky. Till the end of his life, Monte has found ways to be near his son. The man behind the ‘Tampa 2’ defense spent a few of his last years working as the player personnel analyst for Ole Miss. And all of a sudden, Lane is robbed of his guiding star. Now that the coach is packed up with his responsibilities to propel his program to bag the SEC crown, he hardly gets any time to catch his breath. But July 18 was different when Lane found some time to look up to the sky. And guess what? A beautiful rainbow waited to greet the stressed-out HC. This was enough to spark the memories of his late father as he wrote, “You can’t make this up!! Hi Dad.”

For football coaches, there often remains a hero. To Lane, his father, Monte was his superhero. As the Rebels HC showed up at the SEC Media Days on Monday, July 15, he reminisced about a conversation he had with one of his pals. To quote Lane, “I’ve talked before about him being my hero. I had a middle school friend. And he said hero is not really the right term for (Monte). It’s superhero. That’s what he was to the people that he touched…Whether you were big or small, whatever you were, he tried to help.” Monte’s impact has touched millions of hearts, transcending his immediate family. Gators HC Napier is one such example.   

Billy Napier’s support for Lane Kiffin during his personal loss

The Florida HC set foot at the SEC Media Days on day 3. During his opening speech, he paid tribute to the legend. Napier shares a special bond with Lane as they worked together for three long years at the University of Alabama. He has known the Ole Miss HC enough to attribute his coaching skills to the great Monte Kiffin. Napier started with, “This week we lost one of the all-time greats in our profession, Monte Kiffin.”

He further asserted, “And I would tell you, Lane coaches, because of his dad and what he observed growing up.” Monte’s demise has been a personal loss for Napier, as much as it has been for Lane. Even though the Gators and Rebels will be running the same SEC race, it’s not the right moment to let their grudge reign supreme. Instead, Napier stood shoulder to shoulder with Lane.

“Lane and I have been communicating throughout the week. I texted him early in the week. I said, ‘I’ve been through this before,'” Napier declared. The Gators coach too lost his dad, who happened to be a coach himself, seven years ago to ALS. Monte’s demise assembled college football under the same gazebo.