Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels have a second chance at a big-time QB recruit following a chaotic series of events
Ole Miss and HC Lane Kiffin have a second chance at an extremely talented quarterback recruit.
With the firing of head coach James Franklin by the Penn State Nittany Lions recently, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the impact has already been felt on the recruiting trail. We have seen several decommitments in both the 2026 and 2027 classes over the last few days. That includes 2026 San Marcos (Calif.) Mission Hills quarterback Troy Huhn, who had been pledged to the program for well over a year.
The California native is one of the more gifted throwers of any quarterback in the entire 2026 class. With a talented signal caller like Huhn back on the market, you can bet that there will be several programs who demonstrate high interest in him. It’s unclear if head coach Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels should be one of them, but they should be considering they had previously recruited him.
Troy Huhn’s recruiting background
Huhn is considered a near consensus four-star player by each major recruiting platform, the exception being Rivals, which has him pegged as a three-star recruit currently. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Huhn currently sits as a four-star player, ranked as the No. 258 overall player, the No. 19 quarterback, and the. 26 player from the state of California for the 2026 recruiting class.
Before Huhn committed to the Nittany Lions back in June of 2024, a long list of impressive programs had been pursuing him. Some of Huhn’s other top offers included the Rebels, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, Florida State, Texas A&M, Auburn, Washington, Louisville, Kentucky, Arizona State, Michigan State, Arizona, Cal, UCF, and UCLA, among others.
The 6-4.5, 215-pound pocket passer has been a standout for Mission Hills in each of the last three seasons. He makes his living from the pocket, where he possesses tremendous downfield accuracy and pocket presence. While Huhn won’t make a ton of plays with his legs, he has the requisite movement skills to make some throws on the run. His natural accuracy and ball placement is some of the very best in the 2026 class.
As of today, Coach Kiffin does hold a commitment from Austin (Texas) Westlake quarterback Rees Wise in the 2026 class. While Wise is a solid overall prospect, there is a reason why he is only rated as the No. 844 overall player and the No. 46 quarterback in the 2026 class according to the 247 Sports Composite ranking. It’s no insult to Wise to say that Huhn is just a better player. Not pursuing Huhn because of Wise would be a questionable decision from Kiffin and his staff.
Kiffin has had quite the run of talented quarterbacks under his direction. That includes former first round signal caller Jaxson Dart, as well as Trinidad Chambliss who has dazzled so far this season. Huhn’s overall talent would be a welcomed addition to the Rebel quarterback room, and would offer a ton of upside if they decided to push for him.
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