The college football world will center around Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford, Mississippi, when LSU travels to face Ole Miss in Week 3.
New Rebels coach Pete Golding, who was Kiffin's defensive coordinator for the Rebels before being promoted to head coach following Kiffin's departure for LSU, asked for fans to be respectful when the former coach returns to his old school.
"To me, what this place has always been about and why so many people love coming here and respect this place, is because of the people that are here," Golding told reporters on Monday, Sept. 14. "And how they make them feel when they come here. That's always been something for
me. When you come here and meet Ole Miss alumni and all that, they are so respectful."
The boos will undoubtedly be plentiful when Kiffin and LSU take the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the matchup between top-10 teams. Kiffin left the program before the College Football Playoff, which resulted in Ole Miss beating Tulane and Georgia before narrowly falling to runner-up Miami in the semifinal under Golding.
While Golding wants an intense crowd for the site of ESPN's "College GameDay" in Week 3, he wants one that's focused on disrupting LSU — not Kiffin.
"Let's not lose that (image) over a game, over a person, over anyone else like that," Golding said. "There's nothing wrong with being competitive and being in the moment and being really loud and being an unbelievable fan … but at the end of the day don't lose what we have created and what they have created for so long, which is a really unique place with really good people that's really hard to play."
Kiffin took multiple former Ole Miss players with him to LSU in the transfer portal, including star edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen, starting linebacker TJ Dottery and interior offensive lineman Devin Harper and receiver Winston Watkins Jr. He wasn't able to convince quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, though, two of the best at their positions in college football.
Week 3 will be personal for numerous players and fans at Ole Miss. Golding is aiming to keep the atmosphere from too out of hand.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Golding asks Ole Miss fans to maintain image in Lane Kiffin return to Oxford
