Is there such a thing as a kinder, gentler Lane Kiffin?

Evidently, to hear Ole Miss players tell it. The Rebels coach isn’t actually the smirking prankster he might appear to be on social media, defensive end Cedric Johnson said Thursday at SEC Media Days in Nashville.

“He’s not what he seems,” Johnson said. “It might seem, like on Twitter, that he’s constantly talking 24/7. But nah, he’s really a low-key guy. He doesn’t talk much. Compared to Twitter, you’d think he’s a completely different person.”

Kiffin wasn’t always so subdued, obviously. He feuded with Nick Saban on the sideline during his time at Alabama and went out of his way to tweak Florida’s Urban Meyer in 2009, when Kiffin was head coach at Tennessee.

Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss’ All-SEC running back, echoed Johnson’s sentiments, however. He said Kiffin in the locker room or practice field is nothing like Kiffin on Twitter or even in press conferences.

“He just doesn’t talk that much,” Judkins said in an appearance on SEC Network. “On TV, he probably has a certain persona, says funny jokes. But in-person, he’s more serious.”

Kiffin and Judkins have had a special bond since Judkins was in high school at Pike Road near Montgomery. Alabama and Auburn both passed on Judkins during the recruiting process, but Kiffin was famously photographed sitting alone in the stands at Protective Stadium in Birmingham watching Judkins and Pike Road beat Pleasant Grove for the 2021 Class 5A state championship.

“That was awesome,” Judkins said Thursday. “That game (temperature) was like 4 degrees, it was my championship game in high school. So many people were bothering him he went to the other side of the stadium.”