Layla Reaves, former spouse of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, expressed a heartfelt moment that resonated with fans and the powerful Ole Miss family. Through a thoughtful yet simple social media post containing the words “Thinking of You, Mimi,” Reaves honored Lane Kiffin’s mother, a matriarchal figure affectionately referred to as Mimi in the family.
This moment comes on the heels of speculation about and public attention toward the continuing dynamics within the Kiffin-Reaves family. Layla Reaves and Lane Kiffin divorced in 2016 after 12 years of marriage. Though divorced, Layla Reaves and Lane Kiffin have co-parented their three children, Landry, Presley and Knox, in a supportive and public manner.
The public acknowledgment of Mimi in this tribute provides a reminder that family relationships surrounding athletes extend beyond simply contractual ones and to the family bonds that surround them as individuals and as much as we can say current or former athletes.
This short but meaningful gesture did grab rise to attention from the Ole Miss faithful to call attention to the continued family respect and family unity around the head football coach of the Rebel football program. Layla Reaves’ tribute to Mimi appreciates the personal fortitude and strength that is, often time invisible, in the world of the college athletic terrain.
Layla Reaves Honors Lane Kiffin’s Mother
Lane Kiffin’s profile as a successful, high-profile college coach at Ole Miss is frequently a central point of the much Tweeted narrative; what is stirring is the idea of Lane’s family and the professionals surrounding him, which adds deeper meaning to the pressures that are involved with a college football program. Layla Reaves, daughter of former NFL quarterback John Reaves, possesses the same history of legacy with football and determination for success in life as does Lane.
The path of Layla and Lane’s over ten years of marriage produced three children, who are the performers and the fulfillers of the dream of sports and college and education that is part and parcel with being that type of family involved in sports. Layla just moved to Oxford with Knox, which symbolizes the Kiffin’s commitment to raising their children, regardless of Landry’s experience at Ole Miss or Presley’s pursuit of college volleyball at USC, in the right way.
Layla’s tribute to Mimi is an easy fit in this web of lives colliding with lives, where the respect for family origins remains constant irrespective of romantic involvement. It is a portal to a modern/mature family unit based on mutual respect and shared effort, which has apparently been solidified.
