OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin knew he had to go out and get some men in the trenches to compete with Alabama and Georgia in the SEC this fall. So, the Rebels went out and signed the nation’s No. 17 high school recruiting class in 2024 while also snagging the best portal haul of any program in the FBS.
The road loss to Georgia was a pivotal point for Kiffin’s program knowing to that to compete for championships, Not only of the conference kind but the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. He knew his team was only a few pieces away and went out and added more experience and depth to an already talented returning roster.
When Nick Saban appeared on the Pat McAfee Show Friday afternoon, he reiterated the fact that the Rebels are as dangerous as any team in the country this fall.
“Ole Miss is going to look like a big time program up front, which has always been their issue. They lost us in Georgia last year because they couldn’t match up up front. Skill wise, quarterback wise, they can match up with anybody. Now they’ve recruited some guys through the portal to shore up the offensive line. They got a better defensive line. They’re going to look like an SEC team up front, which is going to make them very dangerous. And I’m telling you, Lane [Kiffin] is one of the best play callers in the country. I mean, he did a great job for us [at Alabama]. He always knows what to call next and he can take advantage of a defense, as well as anybody.”
“I never made a quote about Lane Kiffin so that wasn’t me..
Ole Miss is gonna be good and they’re gonna look like a big time progrum up front..
They can matchup with anybody and Lane is one of the best play callers in the country”
Nick Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/2JHqaW0M7I
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 23, 2024
Rat Poison From Saban
Stop the presses. This quote may trigger Kiffin into another one of those all-time ‘rat poison’ rants as Kiffin deflects any sort of praise from his team to keep them level headed. He even said as much during his appearance at SEC Media Days last month.
“As Coach Saban used to say, that’s truly the rat poison, especially in the preseason,” Kiffin said at SEC Media Days. “There have been plenty of teams not ranked high that end up high and plenty of high-ranked teams that end up low.”
He went on to share more of his thoughts on the Rebels’ praise in the preseason. It’s tougher now than ever to keep players tuned into the task at hand but knows its up to the team to remain focused under his guidance.
“I do talk about it extensively to players because I think that does come at them non stop nowadays because of phones,” Kiffin said last week. “That’s a big concern of mine and we talk about it all the time. There’s more of it than we’ve ever had here, for sure, with the preseason rankings and the position rankings or with mock-draft things and we’re supposed to have this many people drafted, which is way more than we’ve ever had. It’s a lot to guard against.”
SEC FEED:
• Auburn Lands Another Highly Recruited Defensive Commitment
• Former Alabama QB Gives Prediction for 12-Team Playoff
• SEC Network Analyst Wrong About Alabama’s ‘Dead’ Dynasty
• Two Other SEC Programs in Hunt for Talented Defensive Back
