What is the first rule to follow when you are playing football? Before you start scratching your head, let us tell you, it’s beyond the gridiron. If we go by 3x USA Today Bestselling author Ann-Marie Meyer, it is “don’t date the coach’s daughter”! That is what she declared in her romance novel “Rule #1: You Can’t Date the Coach’s Daughter”. Well, in the book, the rule was summarily broken when the college football team’s quarterback fell for the coach’s daughter. And now we real-life parallel to that. The point is, that the characters in that real-life plot are surprisingly similar to that in the book- a quarterback, a coach, and his daughter!
The trio we are looking at are Ole Miss quarterback Walker Howard, its head coach Lane Kiffin, and his daughter Landry. Walker and Landry apparently began dating at some point after Howard’s initial transfer from LSU in 2023. And social media has ample evidence of their budding romance. In June, Landry shared a few snaps from a trip they took together. Then in August, on Howard’s 21st birthday, she shared a snap of the QB eating colorful pancakes on which the number ’21’ was made. While we thought everything was going well, here came the twist.
A four-star rated quarterback by On3 out of high school, the No. 6 quarterback nationally, and the No. 4 player in Louisiana in the 2022 cycle, Howard left the Rebels to join the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. And CFB content creator Adam Faris made it further interesting with his reason for Howard’s departure. Faris thinks Howard may have been pushed over the edge because he broke up with Landry. He explicitly stated, “Now, I don’t want to say that Lane is going to keep his daughter’s ex on the bench for revenge. But I can’t imagine that [will] be a comfortable partnership for Kiffin or Walker moving forward.”
As far-fetched as this may sound, Landry herself has added fuel to this notion. Sensationally, Landry Kiffin herself came across this post. In the comments, she dropped a simple “🤷🏼♀️” emoji. While neither Landry nor Howard has spoken anything about it, her engagement with the post is sure to raise eyebrows. But has it anything to do with Howard’s standing in the team?
Howard suited up at LSU in the 2022 season before entering the portal in January of 2023, eventually landing in Ole Miss. Last season Howard was the backup to Jaxson Dart with freshman Austin Simmons serving as the third string and ultimately redshirting. This year Howard was usurped by Simmons who became Dart’s backup early into the season.
It seems that in 2025, Simmons will be the starter or at the very least competing for the starting job with anyone Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin brings in from the portal this month, or in the April window. So is he transferring because he got to understand that he was not going to start in the next year?
This season Howard played in two games — Furman and Wake Forest, and two pass attempts that were both incomplete. He also played in two games last season. Howard wraps up his Ole Miss career with 56 passing yards and a 75 percent completion rate, completing three of four pass attempts. Regardless, a transfer to his native Louisiana could transpire to be a great move for Howard after all.
Walker Howard’s next stop is a circle back to his roots to start over
Walker Howard played his high school football at St.Thomas More in Lafayette, Louisiana. It is less than 7 miles from his new destination. Howard’s decision to join the Ragin’ Cajuns is not just based on proximity. This past season, Louisiana started redshirt senior Chandler Fields under center. Now that he’s run out of eligibility, the starting spot is up for grabs.
Louisiana onboarding Howard has got to mean he has certain assurances that, at least initially, he’ll be the starter. This beckons to be his first shot at being QB1 since entering college. This seemingly is a win-win. Walker Howard gets an opportunity to fulfill his 5-star promise. Meanwhile, Louisiana gets its hands on a local kid who’s been learning his trade behind the likes of Jayden Daniels and Jaxson Dart at 2 high-level SEC programs.
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