SEC Media Days: Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin challenging status quo in 2022
According to ESPN’S Football Power Index, Ole Miss has a two percent chance to win the SEC West this season. That’s exactly the type of thinking that third year Head Coach Lane Kiffin is trying to avoid getting boxed in by.
Rebels taking their turn at the podium on day one of the SEC Media Days, coming off their 10-3 showing last season with a 6-2 mark in league play, culminating with a 21-7 loss to Baylor in the Sugar Bowl.
This year, Ole Miss returns 61 percent of its offensive production with five returning starters on that side of the ball and seven on defense.
The biggest challenge will be replacing Matt Corral under center following his departure to the NFL after helping the Rebs rack up 493 yards per game in 2021, good for sixth-most in the nation.
Another big challenge is recruiting in this new world of ‘name, image, likeness.’ Coach Kiffin said, “We kind of have a saying. We don’t think outside the box. We just create a new box. And so, if that’s what kids care about and look at, then we don’t do things the way they were done before. And I just think that’s how we would operate anywhere, but especially at Ole Miss, you need to be that way to have a chance. Like the commissioner, I didn’t wear a tie today. And he’s like, man, I’ve always wanted to do that. I’m like, well, don’t just do things the way they were before. He’s like, I was waiting for someone to do it, so maybe the commissioner won’t have a tie next year. Because why are we supposed to wear a tie, just because it was done before? Doesn’t really matter.”
Ole Miss ranks 17th, according to ESPN’s pre-season FPI.
