Ole Miss defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins, who said he was recently kicked off the team for missing practices and meetings during a “mental health crisis,” is suing the university and coach Lane Kiffin for failure to provide equal protection, racial and sexual discrimination, and multiple other allegations, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday.
Rollins, a backup lineman whose career has been marred by injuries, is demanding $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit alleges that Kiffin intentionally took adverse action against Rollins “on account of race for requesting and taking a mental health break, but not taking adverse action against white student-athletes” for the same request. It alleges sexual discrimination on the basis that Ole Miss has not taken “adverse action against female student-athletes for requesting and taking a mental health break.”
“We have not received a lawsuit,” Ole Miss wrote in a statement issued through a school spokesman Thursday night. “DeSanto was never removed from the football team and remains on scholarship. In addition, he continues to have the opportunity to receive all of the resources and advantages that are afforded a student-athlete at the university.”
Kiffin declined to comment, deferring to the university’s statement.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi Oxford Division and obtained by ESPN, alleges that at the time of the incident, Ole Miss “did not have written institutional procedures for routine mental health referrals.” It also states that Kiffin, the rest of the coaching staff and the football athletic trainers weren’t provided with “role-appropriate training about the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders and the behaviors of student-athletes to monitor that may reflect psychological concerns.”
According to the lawsuit, Rollins suffered multiple injuries during his career with the Rebels, including a concussion in the spring of 2022 and an injury to his right Achilles tendon that July. The lawsuit claims Rollins “suffered severe depression, anxiety, frustration, embarrassment, humiliation, a loss of sleep and loss of appetite” from the injury to his Achilles.
The lawsuit further states that nobody within the athletic department or football staff provided Rollins with materials about mental health or a mental health referral after the injury. He was reinstated to practice the following month, and in August, he aggravated a previous injury to the LCL in his left knee. In addition to the physical pain he suffered, the lawsuit states that Rollins suffered from “severe depression.”
On Nov. 28, 2022, Rollins met with defensive line coach Randall Joyner for an exit meeting, and Rollins said Joyner tried to persuade him to enter the transfer portal. Rollins declined to transfer. On Jan. 6, 2023, Rollins’ grandmother died, and he “continued to suffer severe depression,” according to the lawsuit.
On Feb. 27, 2023, Rollins met with Kiffin, who informed Rollins he was moving from defensive tackle to the scout team’s offensive line because he wouldn’t transfer. According to the lawsuit, Rollins asked Kiffin if this was “a choice or a command.” Rollins alleged that Kiffin told him “if he didn’t like it then he should quit.”
At that point, Rollins told Kiffin he was going to take “a mental break,” according to the lawsuit. Rollins went to his car and immediately called strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage and reiterated his need for a mental break.
