Old habits die hard.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, meeting with reporters this week at SEC spring meetings in Destin, was surrounded by reporters when he was asked about “occasionally poking Jimbo Fisher” when it comes to NIL.

“I struggle letting it go on those things,” Kiffin said Tuesday. “My SID tells me to let it go, but when someone says that NIL has nothing to do with why someone signs at their place and they signed the best class in the history of recruiting, I struggle with that statement.”

Fisher claimed his Aggies’ No. 1 2022 recruiting class had nothing to do with NIL.

“I just researched this,” Fisher said at the San Antonio A&M Club coaches night last May. “Of the 11 guys that we have in place that came early, one guy has an NIL deal. Just one. So all these stories you’re hearing are complete lies. … I went and checked with our compliance people. They said, ‘We have nothing to do with it.’ One guy.”

It all started, of course, last May when Alabama coach Nick Saban declared that “Texas A&M bought every player.”

Leading up to the 2022 National Signing Day, Kiffin named Texas A&M in comparing NIL-era recruiting to free agency, saying schools have different “salary caps” based on their financial capability.

“I joked the other day I didn’t know if Texas A&M was going to incur a luxury tax and how much they paid for their signing class,” he said at the time.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said, “People are making deals with high school players to go to their school.”

On National Signing Daya year ago, Fisher vented calling out “SEC coaches” for the insinuation of wrong-doing by his program.

“Then to have coaches, in our league and across this league to say it — clown acts. Alright?” Fisher said back in February. “Irresponsible as hell. Multiple coaches in our league. And the guys griping about NIL, griping about transfer portal are using it the most and bragging about it the most. That’s the ironic part.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Music App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.