Report: Mike Leach, Lane Kiffin Expected to Push for Mississippi Flag Change

Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach are reportedly expected to lobby the Mississippi state legislature Thursday to change the state flag.

According to Nick Suss of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, Kiffin and Leach are among those who will argue in favor of removing the Confederate emblem from the upper left corner of the Mississippi state flag.

Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and Mississippi State counterpart John Cohen are expected to join them, as are several other coaches from both schools, including Ole Miss head men's basketball coach Kermit Davis, women's basketball coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and Mississippi State head men's basketball coach Ben Howland.

Both Kiffin and Leach are set to enter their first season as head coach at their respective schools.

There has been a renewed push to remove Confederate symbols across the country in recent weeks as part of protests against racial inequality, social injustice and police brutality. The NCAA also announced Friday that no athletic championship events can be held in Mississippi until the Confederate symbol is removed from its flag.

The eight public universities in Mississippi released a joint statement last week explaining their stance on the flag:

"In keeping the current state flag, Mississippi will potentially forego the millions of dollars in economic impact that NCAA postseason events bring to our state. This is unfortunate. Our student-athletes and coaches, who devote so much of their time, talent, hard work and dedication to their sports and our universities, will potentially be negatively impacted through no action of their own. This is more than unfortunate.

"We are looking forward to a time when our state flag represents the full and rich diversity of Mississippi, a diversity that is reflected in our student-athletes, our student bodies, and the friends and fans of our athletics teams. We look forward to a time when Mississippi’s state flag unites Mississippians, rather than divides us."

Two weeks ago, a vote was held in Kentucky that called for the removal of a statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis from the state capitol. Around that same time, NASCAR announced that it was banning the display of the Confederate flag at racetracks moving forward.

Per Suss, 55 percent of those asked in a recent Mississippi Economic Council poll are in favor of changing the Mississippi state flag.