One could argue that no coach has had a more interesting career than Lane Kiffin. He started at USC with his dad and coaching legend Monty Kiffin before jumping to the NFL. That jump didn’t pan out for him; he has since settled down in the college ranks for our benefit.
He made stops at Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida Atlantic before planting his roots in Mississippi. The Alabama stop is most notable as he went to Nick Saban, realized the coach he can be, and ran with it. He brought FAU out of the Conference USA cellar and produced NFL talent like Devin Singletary.
He now looks to coach up players that have been at Ole Miss while also utilizing every college coaches tool, the transfer portal.
The Transfer Portal is Lane Kiffin’s Friend
Kiffin is all about the offense, he doesn’t hide that, it’s what made USC special early in the 2000s. He is using that same offense to make waves in college football two decades later. Acquiring the necessary pieces in the transfer portal makes the most sense, right?
Kicking things off for Kiffin, he needed a QB to replace the Carolina Panther, Matt Corral. To do this, he was able to grab a QB from his old stomping grounds. He took advantage of Caleb Williams heading to USC and acquired Jaxson Dart from USC. The Ole Miss offense was fun to watch with Corral; with Dart, it will be the same minus the turnovers.
Every good QB needs a reliable RB, so Kiffin got one of those too. He was able to get the always undecided former 5-star Zach Evans from TCU. Evans comes to Ole Miss with talks of being a top-five player at his position in the country while also having fresh legs. TCU didn’t use him like they should a 5-star running back, and now he hopes Kiffin can rectify that.
Last but certainly not least, Dart needed a new receiver. Wide receiver Jaylon Robinson from UCF should do just fine for the Rebels as he comes in to replace players lost in the portal and to the NFL. Robinson brings size and speed to the offense and will be a perfect target for Dart.
As if that wasn’t enough, Dart has had an excellent TE prospect follow him to USC and now to Ole Miss. Michael Trigg is an athletic TE who plays more like a WR and already has a connection with Dart. Trigg has been moving up Devy ranks and is often going behind only Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer.
All in all, you can tell Kiffin spent some time in the lab. He has all these new weapons coming into the fold but what results will these big three have? We will know sure enough with an SEC West schedule on tap for the team.
Explosive Offense Produces Fun Results
When Kiffin took the Ole Miss job in 2020, no one knew what to expect other than we got to see him and Nick Saban once a year. What we all got to see was a Kiffin offense explode in the middle of COVID football. His first game as the coach came against the Florida Gators and showed two things. One, it served as the Kyle Pitts breakout game, and two, it showed this offense could produce points. The team may lack defense, but the offense will keep this team in every game.
After a full offseason program, though, this offense got to show what it could be in 2021. They would average 492 yards per game and 33.7 points per game. In 2022 they face a much easier SEC schedule and an even better out-of-conference lineup. This offense will produce and allow players to develop, and it is all in thanks to Kiffin making these devy assets better pro prospects.
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