Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss are SUED by defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins – who claims he has been kicked off the team – as player accuses them of ‘not providing proper mental health care’

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin and the school have been sued by a player who claims the school failed to provide him with proper mental health care — and that Kiffin kicked him off the team because he took a mental health break.

DeSanto Rollins, a redshirt junior, is still on the team’s roster and played in two games last season.

However, he has one court case against Kiffin and the school, as a local TV station WCBI first reported and says he was kicked off the team earlier this year.

The lawsuit makes widespread claims about the school’s lack of mental health oversight. Mail Sport has contacted Ole Miss for comment.

While Rollins claimed he was experiencing mental health issues shortly before the start of the 2022 season, his claims extend further than that.

“On April 23, 2022, Rollins suffered a concussion that affected his ability to concentrate, think and remember during the UM Spring game, and the UM football coaching staff, football trainers and team physicians failed to refer him for a mental health evaluation. the lawsuit said.

Rollins is still on the team’s roster, but says he was cut from the squad earlier this year

During that summer’s camp, Rollins injured his Achilles tendon in July and re-aggravated his left LCL after tearing it two years earlier. Rollins claims he was “forced to practice” after that last injury.

These injuries left him suffering from ‘severe depression and anxiety’, which he claims the school ‘knew or should have known’.

Rollins claims he did not receive any mental health educational materials, and that the school did not have “written institutional procedures for routine mental health referrals.”

On Feb. 27, 2023, the lawsuit alleges, Kiffin told Rollins he would be transferring from the defensive line to the offensive scout team because he would not be transferring to another school.

This came after defensive line coach Randall Joyner reportedly “pressured” Rollins to enter the transfer portal.

During the meeting with Kiffin, the coach “yelled at Rollins in a hostile and verbally threatening manner,” with Rollins deciding he would take a mental health break.

On March 21, 2023, the two met again after Rollins failed to show up to practice for the previous two weeks.

Rollins is seen during a game against the Troy Trojans last September

Kiffin “verbally attacked” Rollins during that meeting and suggested he “wouldn’t have any mental health issues” if he played defense instead.

Kiffin, the lawsuit states, ultimately kicked Rollins off the team at that meeting for not showing up during his mental health break.

‘It’s called being a ‘p****y’, it’s called hiding behind s***, and not showing up to work, you showing up like your boss – so if you have a real job, okay, on one day, and your boss says come in and meet him, I recommend you meet him, and don’t say no, I’m not ready to meet my boss yet, maybe in a few weeks,” Kiffin said to reportedly.

Rollins claimed his anxiety worsened after he was kicked off the team.