New Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin greeted by droves of fans at Oxford airport

OXFORD, Miss. — On Sunday evening, the Lane Train arrived by plane when new Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin landed in Oxford.

Like a groomsman who had exhausted himself spending hours on the dance floor at a wedding reception, Kiffin debarked the plane with his shirt untucked and his jacket unbuttoned. More than 250 fans stood on the tarmac waiting for Kiffin, holding signs and chanting Hotty Toddy and crowding closer to the runway than the police would have liked.

The fans had been waiting for Kiffin since before the sun went down. At least 100 people had a pre-arrival party in one of the airport's hangars.

Kiffin's arrival also coincided with a child's birthday party. The kid said he just likes airplanes. Little did he know his birthday would draw record attendance numbers.

When Kiffin got off the plane, it felt like Oxford's quaint equivalent of Beatlemania. He shook hands. He took selfies. He held a baby. (Yes, that really happened). He pumped his fist along with the beat of the fourth "Hotty Toddy" chant of the night.

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He didn't stay long. Ole Miss representatives whisked Kiffin away into a black SUV and drove him away into the Oxford night after two or three minutes on the runway. But the party didn't end there.

When Kiffin left, attention turned to Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter. He hung around to shake a few hands and the adulation poured in. A few fans started screaming "You're the man, Keith!" A few others came up to shake his hand and thank him for the hire.

In a brief moment of silence between handshakes, the Clarion Ledger walked up to Carter to comment on his approval rating. He laughed.

With a smile, he relayed his self-described motto: You're never as high or as low as people think you are.

On Sunday night, Ole Miss fans were riding an undeniable high. Students abandoned their books hours before finals week to get a glimpse of their new football coach. Adults cheered and screamed and disobeyed police orders time and time again for a chance to see a millionaire step off a private jet.

Kiffin won't be formally introduced as Ole Miss' head coach until Monday afternoon on campus. The party will likely continue then at The Pavilion, where food and drinks will be provided for fans to see Kiffin shake more hands and share his vision for the football program.

After that, there's no way of knowing how long Kiffin's honeymoon period will continue. He will have to put a staff together, assemble a recruiting class and figure out what to do with his quarterbacks.

But those questions were for another time. On Sunday evening, the only worry fans had was how much longer they'd have to wait for Kiffin's plane to arrive. 

For one short night, there was no pressure to win, no recruits to court. Just fans to meet and babies to christen with his touch. 

Carter isn't the only one with a high approval rating thus far.

Follow the Mississippi Clarion Ledger's Nick Suss on Twitter @nicksuss.