Lane Kiffin calls out Hugh Freeze: 'I'm sure he'll try to steal' Ole Miss NIL executive

Former Ole Miss football coach and current Auburn head man Hugh Freeze complimented Lane Kiffin and the Rebels ' name, image and likeness setup, including The Grove Collective, on Wednesday's SEC Coaches Teleconference.

Kiffin used the quote as a chance to call Freeze out.

“I think in the new world, that’s become harder and harder to do and you’re constantly searching ways with this new way of transferring and NIL to figure out exactly how to do it,” Freeze said Wednesday ahead of the Tigers ' game against Oklahoma on Saturday. “I think there’s some who are doing it well, if you look at like Ole Miss and Missouri, I think they’ve done some really good things it looks like and trying to use NIL to their advantage, and they’ve been able to maintain a winning edge.”

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Kiffin, whose turn on the teleconference came right after Freeze, was asked for a response of Freeze's compliment. He blasted Freeze for trying to steal coaches from his staff during the offseason.

“That is nice of Coach Freeze to complement our management of our collective,” Kiffin said. “I’m sure he’ll try to steal Walker Jones like he’s tried all of our coaches also.”

Jones is the executive director of The Grove Collective. He also reacted to Kiffin's quote with a laughing emoji on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kiffin also likely reference Freeze hiring former longtime Ole Miss staffer Derrick Nix to be Auburn's new offensive coordinator. Nix had been at Ole Miss since 2008, coaching running backs from 2008-19 and receivers from 2020-23. Former Ole Miss offensive line coach Jake Thornton was named to the same position at Auburn on Dec. 22 2022, less than a month after Kiffin was hired at Auburn .

Kiffin and Freeze's programs are certainly in different places in terms of program building. The Tigers have struggled in two seasons under Freeze, with Auburn currently holding a 2-2 record with home losses to Cal and Arkansas. Meanwhile, Ole Miss is ranked No. 5 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and could be a national championship contender this season.

Ole Miss and Auburn do not play in 2024.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lane Kiffin calls out Hugh Freeze: 'I'm sure he'll try to steal' Ole Miss NIL executive