Josh Heupel jokes Knoxville should stock mustard, golf balls for Lane Kiffin, LSU

Lane Kiffin will return to Neyland Stadium on Nov. 21, and it's sure to be a hostile environment as LSU's new football coach makes his second appearance in Knoxville since bolting from Tennessee in 2010.

>At SEC media days in Tampa, Florida, on July 20, Vols coach Josh Heupel was asked by a reporter from Baton Rouge whether he thinks Tennessee's fan base has cooled off on Kiffin since he last appeared in Knoxville as Ole Miss' coach in 2021.

>"Certainly hope our fan base hasn't cooled off," Heupel said. "Whether it's the grocery stores being fully stocked with mustard or our sports stores making sure they've got reinforcements with the golf balls — hopefully Knoxville's ready for his arrival."

>

I asked UT HC Josh Heupel if the Vols fanbase has cooled off since the return of Lane Kiffin in 2021.

"Whether it's the grocery stores being fully stocked with mustard or our sports stores making sure they've got reinforcements on the golf balls." - Coach Heupel@LSUfootball… pic.twitter.com/g8364YsIGX

— Chessa Bouche (@chessabouche) July 20, 2026Heupel's response was a joke, referencing Kiffin's first game back in Neyland Stadium with Ole Miss in 2021. That game devolved into a scene of Vols fans littering the field with debris with just under one minute remaining in an eventual loss to the Rebels.

>Kiffin was infamously struck by a neon yellow golf ball as other objects, including a mustard bottle, water bottles, crushed beer cans and a hot dog rained down from the stands. UT athletics director Danny White and chancellor Donde Plowman both issued apologies in the aftermath.

>The incident was directly in response to a call from the officials but stemmed from the Vols fans' malignment toward Kiffin after he left Tennessee one season into the job for Southern Cal in 2010.

>Even now, 16 years later, Kiffin remains a deeply unpopular figure among Tennessee fans.

>Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_

>This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel jokes Knoxville should stock mustard, golf balls for Lane Kiffin, LSU