Lane Kiffin lawsuit: Heated audio of coach’s meeting with Ole Miss player
Audio from an alleged meeting between Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin and junior defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins leaked Thursday, in which Kiffin berates Rollins and threatens to kick him off the team, saying: ‘go read your (expletive) rights about mental health.’
Front Office Sports published 46 seconds from the alleged meeting, which at times became contentious, and is the center of a September lawsuit Rollins filed against Kiffin and the University.
During the audio, Kiffin does the majority of the speaking, at times raising his voice and using profanity toward Rollins, 22, who is a native of Baton Rouge, La.
What is said in the leaked audio during the alleged meeting between Lane Kiffin and DeSanto Rollins?
The full transcript is as follows:
KIFFIN: If you would’ve come here when you kept getting messages that Head Coach wants to talk to you, and you say, ‘I’m not ready to talk to him.’
ROLLINS: I wasn’t.
KIFFIN: Well, what (expletive) world do you live in?
ROLLINS: I don’t see why you got to be disrespectful, honestly.
KIFFIN: Get out of here. Go. Go. You’re off the team. You’re done. See ya. See ya.
ROLLINS: Cause I’m—
KIFFIN: See ya, go. Go. And guess what? We can kick you off the team. So 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.
A message left Thursday afternoon for a spokesperson with the Ole Miss football program was not immediately returned.
What is the latest development in the lawsuit against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss?
On Wednesday, Kiffin and his attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, according to court documents obtained by the Clarion Ledger, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. The motion indicates that Rollins is still considered to be an active member of the football program.
According to online roster on the Rebels’ official athletic website, Rollins is still listed, though he has not appeared in a game during the 2023 season.
What are the allegations made in the lawsuit against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss?
The lawsuit seeks $40 million in damages and alleges:
Racial discrimination on the part of Kiffin and Ole MissDiscrimination on the basis of disability — or perceived disability — on the part of Kiffin and Ole MissSexual discrimination on the part of Ole MissIntentional affliction of emotional distress on the part of KiffinNegligence and gross negligence on the part of Kiffin and Ole Miss
Rollins is also seeking a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction that reinstates him to the football team.
He alleges that he did not receive a mental health evaluation after sustaining a concussion during the Grove Bowl in April 2022. That July, he endured an injury to his Achilles tendon that the filing says left him suffering from ‘severe depression, anxiety, frustration, embarrassment, humiliation, a loss of sleep and loss of appetite that substantially limited his ability to perform major life activities of walking, jumping, standing for long periods of time, standing on his toes, climbing, eating and sleeping.’
The suit also claims Rollins suffered similar symptoms when he reaggravated a previous injury to his lateral collateral ligament in his knee that August. He alleges that Kiffin and the Ole Miss coaching staff forced him to practice afterward. He alleges Ole Miss failed to provide him with mental health resources in response to his injuries, or the death of his grandmother the following January.
What is the racial component to the allegations against Ole Miss?
Over the summer, Kiffin said that the entire football staff at Ole Miss is Mental Health First Aid certified. The University claimed it was the first program in the country to do so.
Rollins alleges that Kiffin has never kicked a white player off the team for requesting or taking a mental health break and that a white player who had been removed from the team had been allowed to return. The filing also alleges that women’s volleyball players and white softball players had been allowed to take breaks to deal with ‘mental issues.’