SEC Media Days: Kiffin blows his horn about recent success

One team that was on the cusp of making the 12-team playoff was the Ole Miss Rebels led by coach Lane Kiffin.

The Rebs were 9-3 in the regular season, but their 5-3 record in the SEC put Kiffin's crew on the outside looking in when invitations were sent for the playoffs.

Ole Miss' playoff dreams were dashed by:
* A three-point home loss to the Kentucky Wildcats
* A three-point overtime heartbreaker in Death Valley against the LSU Tigers
* A seven-point setback at The Swamp against the surging Florida Gators.

The Rebs' signature win was a 23-10 home victory against the Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 9, just a week after the Rebs embarrassed Arkansas in Razorback Stadium with a 63-31 beatdown.

When Kiffin spoke at SEC Media Days on Monday at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, he said the disappointment of missing the playoffs quickly passed.

The Rebs did gather themselves and demolished Duke 52-10 in the Gator Bowl, giving Kiffin double-digit victories for the third time in the last four seasons.

Kiffin arrived in Oxford for the 2020 season — which Covid shortened to just 10 games, all against SEC schools. Ole Miss went 5-5 in '20 but followed with success: 10-3, 8-5, 11-2 and 10-3.

That stretch includes a 21-11 SEC mark, including a pair of 6-2 records. The Rebs finished No. 11 in the final AP poll in 2021 and '24 and were No. 9 in '23.

That gives Kiffin job security and a long leash as he's leading the Rebs to uncharted territory.

"I believe in the last 55 years of Ole Miss there (have) been four top 12 finishes," he said. "So, three of those in the last four years, one in the previous 51 years, says a lot about what we've been able to do through the staff, through the players, through everybody involved, especially the leadership above me.

"Over that time, the third most SEC wins of all 16 SEC teams. That helps us tremendously. When we got there at Ole Miss, we had to sell to recruits: Hey, when you come here this is what's it's going to look like.

"We're going to win. We are going to have first-round picks. We are going to have the most players drafted in school history. We're going to win 11 games in a season, win 21 in the last two seasons.

"So now that we've done that, we've seen the impact, whether that's transfers coming in or high school kids that have been able to see that. Especially with Mississippi kids to stay home knowing they can achieve and get all these things that maybe previously they needed to look to leave for."

In the 2025 NFL draft, eight Ole Miss football players were selected, setting a program record for the seven-round era. This included two players in the first round, two in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth, one in the fifth, and one in the sixth.

In contrast, Arkansas had only two players drafted, both in the third round. Receiver Isaac TeSlaa went to the Detroit Lions and defensive end Landon Jackson to the Buffalo Bills.

Kiffin said this year's Rebs "have a lot of really good players coming back. Added a lot through the portal. It's been a very competitive offseason. I think that the groundwork of these last players over the last few years, what they laid, what they taught the players, has been very beneficial."

Biggest hole the Rebs have to plug is the loss of quarterback Jaxson Dart, a late-first-round pick by the New York Giants.

Filling Dart's shoes is last year's back-up, sophomore southpaw Austin Simmons.

"Austin has to make sure he doesn't have to try to be Jaxson," said Kiffin, who emphasized that Dart wasn't the best version of himself until his third season as the Rebs' starter, which also followed a season at Southern California.

He expressed confidence in Simmons.

"He'll be fine," Kiffin said. "He's got elite talent. Does a great job. He's maturing. Did a great job when he came in in the Georgia game (last season). We're excited about it."

Kiffin also understands that a lot of pressure comes with lining up under center after one of the best in Ole Miss history preceded Simmons.

"I think there is (a lot of pressure)," he said. "We try to work with him on that and that he has to be himself and not worry about that.

"I think with that, whenever you follow somebody that's had a lot of success and the most wins in the history of school, most yards, touchdowns, basically everything, that puts a lot of pressure on you.

"We have to help him with that. Got to coach and play really well around him. That's the biggest part of helping him with that."

Pittman and the Razorbacks hope Simmons is still adjusting to being the starter and not yet ready for prime time when they square off Sept. 13.

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