National media outlet throws major shade at Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss ahead of 2023 season
Lane Kiffin, a polarizing figure in sports, was one of the hottest names in college football at the end of the 2021 season. Kiffin, who took over as the Ole Miss head coach ahead of the COVID-impacted 2020 season, led the Rebels to their best season in school history in 2021. Ole Miss won 10 […]
Lane Kiffin, a polarizing figure in sports, was one of the hottest names in college football at the end of the 2021 season.
Kiffin, who took over as the Ole Miss head coach ahead of the COVID-impacted 2020 season, led the Rebels to their best season in school history in 2021.
Ole Miss won 10 regular season games in 2021 for the first time in program history.
The Rebels got off to a hot start in 2022 by winning their first seven games, seemingly picking up where they left off in 2021.
Unfortunately for Ole Miss, the Rebels went 1-5 in their final six games of the season amid rumors that Kiffin was considering taking the Auburn job. Kiffin eventually decided to stick around in Oxford (Auburn ended up hiring former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze to replace Bryan Harsin who was ousted after two lackluster seasons).
Moving ahead to 2023, 247Sports isn't a big believer in Kiffin and the Rebels.
In fact, they think Ole Miss is a bit overrated heading into Kiffin's fourth season.
247Sports' Brad Crawford suggested on Monday that Ole Miss, which is ranked around No. 21 in most preseason polls, could fall out of the top 25 by the end of September and not return.
From 247Sports: Ole Miss took a step back down the stretch during last season's spiral, but this time around, the Rebels' slate will be treacherous from the get-go. After traveling to nationally-ranked Tulane in Week 2, Ole Miss will contend with Alabama on the road in its SEC opener two weeks later and then host LSU in the league's home opener. That's three potential losses in September for Lane Kiffin. Gulp. Not only would that put Ole Miss outside of the national rankings, but it would be an uphill climb to get back there the rest of the way to justify preseason billing. It's not going to happen.
Kiffin hasn't been shy about using the transfer portal to address the Rebels' needs. And while Kiffin has landed some quality talent, the portal additions could actually be a reason why Ole Miss struggles in 2023.
It's hard to build a culture when players are constantly coming and going. Adding older players to the mix who may not be as willing to buy into Kiffin's culture is especially problematic.
And if you think that's a stretch, don't take my word for it, just look at what Kiffin said about the transfer portal last summer.
“If everybody had a bunch of portal guys, everybody would have this (chemistry) issue,” said Kiffin to The Athletic a year ago. “But we’re going to go play a lot of these SEC teams where their culture is set, and hardly any of their new players are starters.”
After 15 years of continuing to fall up the coaching ladder, the shine may have finally worn off Kiffin.
Kiffin's going to have to deal with a lot of tough questions this fall if Ole Miss struggles again after the sometimes controversial head coach nearly left Oxford for Auburn last winter.
