Can you feel it? The ground in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is already starting to shake. OK, so maybe the earth isn’t really shaking in Tiger Stadium, but for loyal LSU fans who love “Purple Live Gold,” the first Sunday in September can’t come soon enough.

And if you’re wondering why it’s “first Sunday” instead of “first Saturday,” that’s because the Louisiana State University Fighting Tigers football team has once again been selected to be in the national spotlight when the 2024 NCAA football season “really” begins.

Of course, there will be games this weekend, but unless you’re a fan of Georgia Tech, Florida State or McNeese State, you’re probably willing to wait until next weekend when teams like the Ragin Cajuns from Louisiana officially start their season.

And while we fans wait impatiently for the real season to begin, for coaches like LSU’s Brian Kelly and University of Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin, there is never an offseason. Fans, media and prospects scrutinize every word that comes out of the coach’s mouth.

The other day, Ole Miss coach Kiffin made an interesting comment about a popular soft drink. I can only assume the popular soft drink is a sponsor of Ole Miss athletics, since a bottle was strategically placed on the coach’s podium before he addressed the media.

Coach Kiffin, who doesn’t mince his words, gave his opinion on the popular soda. Not wanting to be outdone or outdone, LSU coach Brian Kelly responded to Coach Kiffin’s “inflammatory rhetoric” with old-fashioned kindness.

You can see it for yourself here.

I wonder which program gets additional sponsorship from Coca-Cola?

It’s quite possible that this “dispute” won’t go beyond stories like this one, but it does illustrate how closely college coaches, especially in the Southeastern Conference, are watched, quoted and scrutinized.

Honestly, I haven’t seen a sponsorship faux pas like Kiffin’s since the New Orleans Saints accidentally sent us all to Popeyes for chicken, much to the chagrin of their then-official chicken sponsor, Raising Canes. Thankfully, Raising Canes survived the mistake and Popeyes seems to be doing pretty well, too.

Let’s hope Coach Kiffin doesn’t have the same luck. No, we don’t wish anything personal on him or the team. We just like watching them lose. But that’s life in the SEC, where it just means more.