(Column): A normal college football season in 2021 is far from a sure thing

Hopes for a normal college football season, devoid of COVID-19, is not a certainty as infection rates surge once again. And with masks and vaccinations becoming increasingly politicized, the issue is unlikely to abate anytime soon.

August 11, 2021 - 8:51 AM

Mississippi head Coach Lane Kiffin walks to the stadium before a game against Arkansas at Razorback Stadium on Oct. 17, 2020, in Fayetteville, Ark. Photo by Wesley Hitt / Getty Images/ TNS

LEXINGTON, Ky. — As strange as it sounds, college football needs to take Lane Kiffin’s lead.

That’s right, Lane Kiffin. The “Bad Boy” of SEC football coaches. The offensive whiz kid who left Tennessee after one season, got fired at USC, sparred with Nick Saban at Alabama, resurrected his head coaching career at Florida International and who in his first season as head coach at Ole Miss put up big numbers in 2020.

Kiffin has produced an even bigger number in 2021. The Rebels are 100% vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s 100% of players, coaches and staff. That’s 240 people in all. That’s the best news we’ve heard to date in college football’s fight to have a normal season.

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