Lane Kiffin Supports Ole Miss Players Who Want Confederate Monument Removed

Mississippi head football coach Lane Kiffin has offered his support to players who want a Confederate soldier statue removed from its spot on campus. 

Per ESPN's Chris Low and Andrea Adelson, Kiffin explained conversations between the athletic department and the football team made it clear players wanted the monument taken down. 

"After hearing their voices, I fully support them wanting that statue moved," Kiffin said Saturday.

Low and Adelson noted school administrators, as well as student and faculty leaders, have recommended moving the statue to a Civil War cemetery. It currently sits near the school's main primary administrative building.

Per Emily Wagster of the Associated Press (h/t U.S. News), the board that governs Mississippi's eight public universities delayed a vote on a proposal to move the Ole Miss monument in January. Trustee Tom Duff said he wanted "more information from the university about its work to provide historical context about the monument and some other structures on campus."

The Confederate statue on the University of Mississippi campus, which was dedicated in 1906, features a solider saluting. 

Kiffin was among a large group of Rebels football coaches and players who took part in a unity walk Saturday across the campus in support of the ongoing protests around the country against systemic racism in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota Police custody on May 25.