Lane Kiffin Considering Holy Water For Game At Ole Miss On Sept. 19, Courtesy Of Nick Saban’s Wife Terry

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The New Orleans Saints famously called on voodoo priestess Ava Kay Jones to break the curse on their franchise in the playoffs before their Wild Card playoff against the St. Louis Rams on Dec. 30, 2000, in the Superdome. At the time, they were 0-for-3 in the postseason and 0-for-4 overall.

Jones wore a live, large boa constrictor snake as a necklace and carried a Voodoo doll and a “gris-gris” bag of herbs, stones, roots and personal items for good luck and, more importantly, spiritual protection. A drummer and dancer from the Voodoo Macumba band accompanied her.

And it worked. The Saints broke the hex with a 31-28 win, thanks to Rams’ punt returner Az-Zahir Hakim dropping a punt deep in St. Louis territory to seal the win.

“There is a God,” Saints play-by-play announcer Jim Henderson exclaimed on the radio.

There is also voodoo.

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New LSU football coach Nick Saban and his wife Terry had been in Louisiana for just over a year at this time, and Saban’s first LSU team had just defeated Georgia Tech, 28-14, the night before at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. They were getting used to Louisiana’s customs at this point. Saban would win the national championship in the 2003 season, breaking a curse of no national titles in LSU football since 1958. But he left LSU after the 2004 season to become the Miami Dolphins coach before returning to college football for the 2007 season at LSU blook rival Alabama – much to the hateful chagrin of LSU fans. They burned for years over that, much like Ole Miss fans are now with their coach, Lane Kiffin, leaving Ole Miss for LSU after last season.

And 14 years after the Saints’ curse lifted, Terry Saban was trying to protect her husband and his new team at Alabama from the voodoo spell Tiger Stadium tends to cast on visitors. But she used an alternate strategy.

“I’m walking on the sidelines before the LSU game (in 2014),” new LSU football coach Lane Kiffin said on the SEC Network with Saban on Thursday.

Rambling Man Lane Kiffin’s question-control offense eats up the clock in Tampa.https://t.co/ujScOk4cMu

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) July 23, 2026

At the time, Kiffin was in his first season as Saban’s offensive coordinator, and No. 4 Alabama was about to play No. 14 LSU in a prime time game on CBS. Saban was 5-3 against LSU as Alabama’s coach at the time, including the 21-0 national championship win at that same dome in New Orleans on Jan. 9, 2012, and he was 2-1 in Tiger Stadium.

Classic Story Time With Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin.https://t.co/TiYdtfIpyw

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) July 24, 2026

“And they still dislike him there at the time,” Kiffin said. “Fans are yelling stuff at him. And Terry’s got this stuff, and she’s putting it on the ground. And I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ She’s like, ‘There’s real voodoo here in the stadium. And they don’t like Nick here, so I’ve got to spread this stuff out to make sure it’s going to be OK.'”

Saban had been hung in effigy around Baton Rouge before his first game as Alabama’s coach at LSU in 2008, and Mrs. Saban had police escorts. Alabama won that one, 27-21, in overtime.

“It was holy water,” Saban said on the SEC Network as the rest of the crew laughed. “She took holy water to the sidelines.”

And it worked as Alabama prevailed, 20-13, in overtime.

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And Kiffin plans on having Mrs. Saban spread some holy water on the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at Ole Miss before the Rebels game against Kiffin and LSU on Sept. 19. That will be Kiffin’s first game at Ole Miss as LSU’s coach after coaching the Rebels from 2020-25.

“When you get to that game, give me a call,” Saban said. “Because you’re going to break the record for the ass kicking you get for the place you go back to. Because I have it right now when I went back to LSU (in 2008) after leaving and going to Alabama. All right, so I’ll give you some coaching points on how to get through that. You’re going to break the record.”

Not if Mrs. Saban can help. She’ll be in Oxford with her husband, who will be part of ESPN’s College GameDay crew as usual for the game.

“You’ll be there for College GameDay,” Kiffin told Saban. “So, I’ll probably need Miss Terry out there.”

But would Mrs. Saban help Kiffin and LSU at Vaught-Hemingway?

“Sure, she loves Lane,” Saban said. “I’m sure she will.”