$40,000,000 lawsuit on Lane Kiffin by Ole Miss player takes new turn in court
The $40 million lawsuit against the Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and the Rebels athletic department has taken a new turn. DeSanto Rollins, the player who filed the lawsuit, has submitted text messages seemingly between him and Kiffin's staff members in an attempt to strengthen his case.
Rollins, a defensive tackle with the Rebels, filed the lawsuit against Kiffin and the athletic department in September after being taken off the team. He alleged that the head coach and his staff ignored the symptoms of his battle with depression. The Rebels maintain that Rollins had cut off communication with the staff.
Here is an excerpt from the text messages filed in the court as reported by Front Office Sports:
“Hey coach, I decided it was best for me to take a mental break from everything and resume after I meet with my doctor and get everything in line,” Rollins seemingly told Nick Savage, the Rebels strength and conditioning coach.
Savage reportedly asked if the staff could do anything for the defensive tackle. Even Rollins’ mother contacted Ole Miss's assistant A.D. for sports medicine and head football athletic trainer, Pat Jernigan, to inform him about her son's mental condition. Jernigan acknowledged the message and told her he would talk to the player that day.
The filings were made in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on Friday to rebut Kiffin’s motion to dismiss the $40 million claim against him.
The $40 million lawsuit against Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin: The story so far
The lawsuit from DeSanto Rollins was filed in September after he was removed from the team for missing practice and not meeting Lane Kiffin. An audio of the head coach berating the player was released, purportedly from the March 21 meeting between the two.
“If you would've come here when you kept getting messages that Head Coach wants to talk to you, and you say, 'I'm not ready to talk to him,'” Kiffin was heard saying in the audio recording.
The player filed a $10 million+ $30 million claim against Kiffin and the athletic department, accusing them of neglecting his mental health issues. In November, the Ole Miss HC filed a motion to get it dismissed.