Lane Kiffin caused a minor stir after a tweet that alluded to gambling and intentionally affecting the betting line in Florida Atlantic’s game against Marshall this week.
On Saturday, he wanted to clarify that the tweet was just a joke.
With a few seconds remaining in the game, and with FAU leading by a touchdown, Kiffin opted to take a safety rather than risk having a punt blocked deep in his own territory.
The Owls were six-point favorites, and the safety made the final score a 30-25.
Kiffin retweeted a message that suggested he’d “trolled” everyone on twitter with the decision to take the safety.
FAU was -6 point spread on Marshall & Lane Kiffin just trolled everybody with the safety 😂😂😂 #Fau #Lanekiffin pic.twitter.com/LOwr6qSF7R
— Lil Mook (@Lilmook4real) November 4, 2017
Didn't want to cover because of too much rat poison #keptuwatching #5-0 #cometothefau #playersgetweekendoff https://t.co/HCsRjZKh4E
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 4, 2017
On Saturday, he released a statement explain that he was just making a joke.
“I did not know the safety changed the result of the spread until last night after I got home,” Kiffin told Low. “Someone sent me the funny tweet that I was supposedly trolling everyone by taking a safety to not cover, and as a joke, I retweeted it adding the rat poison line and put a shoutout to our players for earning a well-deserved weekend off. If that’s a story, it must be a slow news day. Roll Tide tonight.”
The “rat poison line” is a nod to Nick Saban who said that the constant media coverage of his team was one of the worst influences over his team. Kiffin, who was the offensive coordinator at Alabama last season, ended his message by supporting his former team.
It didn’t need to be stated explicitly that his retweet was a joke. Nobody was betting on an FAU vs. Marshall game.
