A changed Lane Kiffin?
Kiffin's metamorphosis, Partidge's ability to recruit and the ongoing QB batttle
Football season is almost here. We’ve got a new podcast out with former Ole Miss quarterback Ryan Buchanan on the end of preseason camp, the lack of traction in the quarterback battle and more. You can check that out here or anywhere you get podcasts. We also published episode three of the Nick Broeker Show if that suits your fancy.
We’ve got much of the same and more to discuss today.
Are we witnessing a Lane Kiffin metamorphosis?
That word is probably a little bit dramatic for a man who coaches a game for a living, but the only analogy I had in my mind while preparing to write about this was the whole caterpillar-butterfly thing. No one has ever accused me of being original.
On Thursday night, Kiffin had a 90-minute meeting with an unnamed player he could sense was struggling. He didn’t say what type of struggle, but that isn’t the point.
“I probably wouldn’t have had that kind of meeting before,” Kiffin said. “But if you see someone struggling, why not pull them aside? If you are trying to get better, you are always evolving and growing.”
It was the latest of a handful of hints the third-year Ole Miss head coach has given regarding changing his habits in both his personal and professional life.
During a press conference last week, Kiffin was asked a (very oddly worded and personal, but still interesting) question about a motivational tweet he sent out earlier that morning.
“I just saw that this morning and thought it was really cool,” Kiffin said. “Maybe there’s somebody out there that needs some motivation and is going through some stuff. The ability to use that platform as a head coach on Twitter with that many people is really valuable. So, I just thought that was really cool what she said. I think we all go through things.
“I’ve been through a lot. It is well-documented, too. A divorce, firings, so now being here, having a daughter move here, some things change. I didn’t think I would be watching a Nicholas Sparks movie on a Sunday night, last night, with six high school girls sitting on the couch and a dog. So, maybe things have changed.”
You all are well aware I don’t cover the program in a full-time capacity anymore, and my departure from reporting coincided with Lane Kiffin’s arrival (and that whole global pandemic thing), but because of this newsletter and podcast, I have remained pretty plugged into the program. I would argue that in this current role, whatever you want to call it, has made me more motivated than ever to provide actual thought-provoking commentary now that I don’t have to worry about the mundane day-to-day coverage. With all of that said, I feel confident in saying that this preseason camp is as relaxed, open and relatable as Lane Kiffin has been, certainly in his time in Oxford, and maybe ever in his career.
He has an English Labrador Retriever puppy named Juice Kiffin wandering the practice fields and facility. Remaining on-brand, Kiffin has somehow turned it into a recruiting tool. In late July, Ole Miss had a slew of prospects on campus and called it “Juice Week.”
Asked a question about the dog at a press conference a couple of weeks ago, Kiffin made a reference to parenting and grinned as he quipped about nothing being more difficult than raising a teenage daughter. He sounded like, well, a normal dad content with his life and everything in his orbit.
As weird as it might sound to comment on someone else’s physical appearance, he even looks better. Kiffin has lost weight. He does hot yoga every morning. OutKick’s Trey Wallace wrote a terrific story about all of this as a follow-up to the aforementioned motivational tweet press conference that is well worth your time. Wallace interviewed Kiffin one-on-one (presumably via phone?) after the presser ended. The story covers much of what I am talking about. It revealed that Kiffin hasn’t drank alcohol in 17 months, which is seemingly a testament to his declaration of change in habits rather than any sort of deeper struggle with the substance. In the story, he talked about fatherhood, religion and redemption.
As he mentioned in the earlier quote, Kiffin’s oldest daughter moved to Oxford for her senior year of high school. Without getting too far into his personal life (we haven’t renamed this thing Rippee TMZ Writes yet), it sounds like it’s been a while since he has been able to be an every day dad.
All of this comes on the heels of Kiffin doing an interview for USA Today in June in which he talked about viewing Oxford as a long-term destination and how appealing building a program toward an unprecedented ascension sounded. Now, does that change the fact that Kiffin’s name was loosely tied to every major job opening the country last winter? No, it doesn’t — and here is a hint: that wasn’t just a product of clickbait media, if you are picking up what I am putting down. Does the notion of a long-term stay in Oxford directly contradict how every other stop in his career has turned out? Yes, it does. That is kind of the point. Hence, the posed question: are we witnessing a changing man?
But, simultaneously, it is also not really the point. When it comes to long-term commitment in the business of college football, words, and even contractual terms, often ring hollow. Is it naive to read Kiffin’s quotes in the USA Today piece and assume he will remain the head coach at Ole Miss for 15 more years? Of course it is. He had great interest (that bordered on lobbying) in multiple job openings last year. The entire ecosystem of college football doesn’t really foster ripe conditions for long-term partnerships. That’s why it’s a rarity that most programs perpetually and unsuccessfully seek. My point is that Kiffin speaks differently than he did last fall, or the fall before that. He is speaking differently than he has at any point since he’s been at Ole Miss — or, truthfully, at any point in his coaching career. For the first two years, Kiffin spoke like a man on a mission to succeed and quickly move on to the next thing. There was no reflecting. He never talked about his kids or anything in his personal life. Hell, trying to figure out what he actually meant by a particular comment or what he was actually thinking in a specific moment was like solving a riddle.
Now, he speaks like a man who has lived a lot of life in both a personal and professional sense — which he has. He speaks like a man at peace with his past, genuinely happy with the present, and, because of the satisfaction that state of mind brings him, he seems relatively apathetic to what the immediate future may hold. What does that actually mean for Ole Miss? Who knows. The future is always uncertain and things change rapidly in major college sports. But this seemingly newfound sense of contentment from Kiffin has to be a lot more encouraging to fans than his general apathetic nature to most everything in his first two years in Oxford.
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Ole Miss is out of preseason camp
The Rebels wrapped up preseason camp last weekend with a scrimmage closed to both the media and the public. Monday’s press conference generated much of the same platitudes from Lane Kiffin regarding the quarterback competition, injuries and pretty much everything else inquiring minds wanted to know. Depending on when you read this, Ole Miss now sits seven days away from its first game and remains a team with a great deal of promise but also a lot of unknown. The SEC West is sure to be an absolute gauntlet of a division — as it is most years. The Rebels are equipped with more overall roster depth than they have had at any point in the last half decade, but also feature an almost entirely new on-field coaching staff, a slew of transfers expected to play significant roles and indecision at the most important position on the field.
If nothing else, this season should make for compelling entertainment.
Quarterback competition still undecided
The most pressing storyline left unanswered is who the team’s starting quarterback will be. I thought there was a decent chance that Kiffin would name a starter at Monday’s press conference, but, instead, he remained uncommitted and offered the same analysis he has throughout the preseason that essentially boils down to this: “both guys have done some good things and some bad things. One guy will have a good day and then struggle while the other guy has a good day.” I am, of course, paraphrasing, but that is basically where things stand in Kiffin’s mind, or at least what he wants us all to think from a public-facing perspective.
When I watched that Monday presser, and I may have been guilty of reading too far into Kiffin’s comments over the last 10 days or so, but it seemed like you could sense a bit of frustration from him and the coaching staff that neither guy has grabbed the competition by the throat and taken the job. Maybe that’s because it’s incredibly difficult to evaluate quarterbacks in a three-week long practice setting. It probably has something to do with going up against an improved defense that knows the offense’s plays as they throw to a largely unproven and unfamiliar receiving corps, and it almost certainly is partially due to both guys being 19 years old and still unfinished prospects. Replacing Matt Corral is a tough job. It was always going to be a tough job. This is part of the process, even if Kiffin is frustrated by it.
On Friday afternoon, Kiffin sang a slightly different tune — though he was still noncommittal on naming a starter.
“Both have played well. I feel really good about it. That is probably the first time I have said that about both guys in terms of where they are at and how they are doing. We have a really good situation,” Kiffin said.
Does he anticipate naming a starter heading into game week?
“I think you guys know, I don’t anticipate a lot,” Kiffin said. “I live in the moment. I don’t anticipate that. But I also wouldn’t say that wouldn’t happen. That’s outcome. Like we tell the players, we worry about the process. The process right now is having a good Fast Friday and getting them to play well in the scrimmage tomorrow.”
That, my friends, was a professional non-answer. He even slipped a double-negative in there. The Fast Friday term is in reference to their regular walk-thru the day before a game. Ole Miss has been in game-week dress rehearsal mode for the last five days, culminating with a scrimmage on Saturday. I believe they are even staying in a hotel on Friday night like they would before an actual game. As far as what he meant, I think he meant just what he said: “I am not saying anything.”
Part of me believes he isn’t completely sure and wants to see one more scrimmage, but I also don’t think he’s as undecided as he makes it sound.
I opined last week on how I think this will all shake out. I also believe that it is in Ole Miss’ best interest to decide on one guy and give whoever that is the bulk of the first team reps through the first two games of the season. Very rarely does a two-quarterback rotation work out on an individual or collective level, and with so much newness on this team surrounding that position, one would think it would be immensely helpful to have some semblance of certainty at the most impactful position on the field. I think Kiffin knows this.
It’s also entirely possible that he goes into the first game without naming a starter and does exactly what I just argued against. Kiffin has forgotten more about football than I will ever pretend to know. At the same time, I do think a starter is named some time in the next couple of days. We shall see.
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The newness is a real thing
You might be wondering why Ole Miss is doing an entire game-week dress rehearsal. Is that really necessary? These guys can’t learn how to do a walk-thru and then board a bus to a plane or hotel? It’s less about that and more about familiarizing a group with a lot of new faces with the entire process. Kiffin’s Friday walk-thru practice is not a typical walk-thru that you are thinking of. It’s short but fast-paced. The actual, more traditional walk-thru is on Thursday, before working them a little harder and a little faster in a condensed Friday practice. Kiffin says this is about muscle build-up and cited something about the Olympics I did not fully understand. That’s not the point though. The point is that there really is a lot of new with this team and it’s not as easy to build cohesion as you might think.
“Half the players are new and haven’t done this before the way we do it,” Kiffin said. “I don’t know what other rosters look like, but I cannot imagine there are many rosters with a larger percentage of transfer portal guys starting or playing significant snaps. I think we have done well building chemistry. They are doing all they can, but then we go to Fast Friday and are calling things out, and none of them know what to do or where to go and we are reminded how many of them are in their first year here. It’s going to be a continuous process.”
Ole Miss’ schedule sets up well for this team. Having four weeks to ease into the season is a massive break for the Rebels.
Partridge’s northeast recruiting offers glimpse into what shaped him
Newly-minted defensive coordinator Chris Partridge has only been a power five coach for seven years, all of which came at Michigan. He comes from the Don Brown School of “solve all of your problems with aggression.” Brown, a longtime defensive coordinator at the power five level and current head coach at Massachusetts (in his second stint) is known for his propensity to blitz and his aggressive defensive tactics. Partridge, a New Jersey native and seemingly hard-nosed individual, fits the profile of a pupil from that brand of education.
“They won’t play if they don’t hit you,” said Partridge a couple of weeks ago when asked about the secondary. “We want to be violent. We want to knock the crap out of people.”
I am curious to see what this Ole Miss defense looks like this year. In 2021, under the leadership of D.J. Durkin, the Rebels elected to deploy a 3-2-6 scheme primarily out of necessity. Will this defense look the same? The Rebels have top-end SEC-caliber talent and depth in the secondary, so that proverbial 3-2-6 shoe seemingly fits again. But they also have newfound depth on the defensive line. Kiffin called Auburn transfer J.J. Pegues the best interior defensive lineman he’s had at Ole Miss. K.D. Hill, Tywone Malone and Isaiah Iton join Pegues on the inside with a rotation of Cedric Johnson, Jared Ivey, Tavius Robinson and Brandon Mack flanking them to the outside. The only real question mark resides at linebacker. Ole Miss has to replace a pair of good ones in Chance Campbell and Mark Robinson. What does all of that end up looking like? I am fascinated to find out.
Then, there are a handful of freshmen who have had great preseason camps and look prime to contribute — most notably cornerback Davison Igbinosun and defensive lineman Xavian Harris.
Igbinosun is an interesting story to me, because I believe his presence and arrival at Ole Miss is telling when it comes to Partridge’s ability to recruit. Partridge is known as a great recruiter. That’s why Kiffin brought him to Ole Miss in the first place. There is no better evidence of this than Partidge’s ability to recruit his native territory — the northeastern United States. The Northeast is not necessarily known as a hotbed of football recruiting. Basketball is king in that part of the country. Igbinosun is from Union, New Jersey, about a half hour from where Partridge grew up. Igbinosun has turned heads throughout preseason camp and will almost assuredly contribute to an already loaded secondary.
How does a kid from just south of New York City end up in Oxford, Mississippi? Trust is a big factor.
“You have to take the time to get to know guys,” Partridge said. “You really just have to take the time to actually know them. Don’t take them based on what they are ranked or just what you think of them. I want to know them. Any guy I recruit, I like coaching him. I want to see how he responds to what we tell them. Teaching is actually a better word for it. I like teaching guys. I also like getting to know every person that has touched them. Getting to know their coaches, getting to know their parents and how they raised them. I want to actually know my players.”
Igbinosun is hardly the only one. Philadelphia native Tysheem Johnson made the same journey down south last year and ended up as a consensus freshman All-American and a crucial piece to a defense that forged an identity of competence and toughness in the latter half of the season. Iowa State transfer safety Isheem Young is also a Philadelphia native. Malone is from New Jersey. Freshman linebacker Zaid Warren is a Philly kid. Robinson, a Canadian, is from Eastern Ontario, about an hour west of upstate New York. I am counting that because this beautiful country could’ve had Canada if we would have called the wimpy French’s bluff and had the earliest version of Uncle Sam obliterate the Quebec militia back in the day of wooden teeth and no electricity. Thanks for nothing, John Adams.
You get the point. Ole Miss has starters and real contributors littered across its defense from an area of the country not really known for blue chip prospects.
I interviewed Johnson for an NIL-related story earlier this summer. He was recruited by several Big Ten schools and figured he’d end up at Ohio State or Michigan, like a lot of northeast kids. Partridge left Michigan for Ole Miss and Johnson committed and signed without ever stepping foot on campus in an official capacity. His high school coach drove him from Philadelphia to Oxford because he insisted that Young needed to at least lay eyes on the place he elected to go to college. Johnson had never been to the American South. He spoke about the friendliness of the people and the unwavering trust he had in Partridge, despite being completely unfamiliar with where he’d be spending the next four years.
“Coach Partridge is different,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to explain. He was just more honest with me than other schools were. I felt like he was actually genuine about everything he was telling me.”
FOOTBALL SEASON IS NEAR. LB’s wants you to enjoy it as much as possible. It’s The People’s Meat Market. Simply for being a loyal subscriber to this free newsletter, LB’s will give you a 16 oz. prime strip for $20 and a pack of sausage for $5. Just walk in and show them proof of subscription. That’s a hell of a dinner on the grill for 25 bucks. Then go find your own favorites at LB’s. It is truly a Southern jewel and Oxford is so lucky to have it.
On the horizon
Game week podcast schedule with Weldon Rotenberg and Ryan Buchanan
A couple of football-centric newsletters.
A feature on the quarterback position
That is all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join in on the fun by smashing he subscribe button below. It is free. Inflation has not changed that.
Great stuff!