Friday Five: dumb Kiffin rumors and a look at Georgia Southern

The stupidity of Kiffin to Florida talk and five things to watch as the Rebels take on Georgia Southern

photo credit: Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss has one final tune-up against Georgia Southern before entering its eight-game SEC slate.

Here are some interesting notes from the week, as well as five things to watch for in the Rebels’ last non-conference game.

For your own sanity, ignore Lane Kiffin-Florida content

As silly as I find even addressing Lane Kiffin’s future three games into a season in mid-September, I’ve gotten asked several times this week about Kiffin potentially leaving Ole Miss to take the Florida job should the Gators fire Billy Napier. I suppose I understand how this topic has come about. Kiffin is one of the best coaches in college football and his name is constantly associated with other jobs.

Florida appears to be terrible. In two games against FBS opponents (Miami and Texas A&M), the Gators were destroyed on their own home field. Napier is in his third year as head coach after going 6-7 and 5-7 in his first two seasons. Florida fans are fed up with him and ready to move on. I don’t know whether Napier is a good or bad coach. He had tremendous success at Louisiana-Lafayette, but a job like Florida is a different animal. You could make the argument that he’s been set up for failure due to an incompetent administration, unstable NIL infrastructure and wildly unrealistic expectations.

Naturally, as Florida has limped to a 1-2 start, Napier’s firing seems more likely with every loss. Fans and media are already prognosticating who could be the next Gators head coach. Lane Kiffin is usually the first name listed.

Do I think Kiffin will end up at Florida should the job come open? No, I don’t. A detailed explanation as to why I believe this is a content item for a later date, but here is a list of reasons as to why this current discourse regarding the subject is utterly moronic.

1. It’s September 19.

2. See No. 1

3. The job is not open yet.

4. If Ole Miss lives up to expectations, the screwed up college football calendar will prevent it.

Obviously, the last reason is the only one worth expounding on. My RebelGrove cohort Tyler Siskey made this astute point on the McCready-Siskey podcast this week, and it’s something I have thought about as well that never made sense to me regarding this Kiffin to Florida discussion. I think we can all agree that there is very little that makes sense about the current structure of college football. From the lawless NIL “system” that has fans footing the bill for their favorite team’s payroll, to the transfer portal and unlimited transfers. The sport lacks structure and leadership. That breeds dysfunction.

The calendar is also completely messed up. The early signing period begins on December 4. The first round of the college football playoff begins on December 20. With that in mind, let’s play this hypothetical out. Florida’s regular season ends on November 30. If the Gators fire or have already fired Napier by then, they’ll need to move quickly to hire a new coach to try to salvage some semblance of its recruiting class due to a ridiculously quick turnaround between the regular season and the early signing period this year.

If Ole Miss lives up to expectations and makes the College Football Playoff, its first round game will be on either December 20th or 21st. Do you really think Florida is going to be able to wait nearly a month (or longer if the Rebels win a game or two) to try to hire Lane Kiffin? I suppose it’s technically possible, but that seems like a remarkably stupid and risky strategy. Florida will have to hire its next coach long before December 20th, unless it wants to further handicap its program by waiting a month and enduring the early signing period without a coach in hopes one particular candidate says yes.

Now look at it from Lane Kiffin’s shoes, or really any coach in the playoff. Do you really think any coach with any ounce of sanity will look at his situation and say “I know my team is in the playoff. I know we are a couple of wins away from playing for a national title, but I am actually going to leave. I am going to take this new job, scramble to put a staff together, piecemeal a recruiting class and start over.” Does that sound insane to you? Because it is completely insane. If Ole Miss lives up to expectations, it will be protected by what is an utterly nonsensical college football schedule.

Is it guaranteed Ole Miss makes the playoff? Of course not. But there are also other reasons why I don’t think Kiffin would take the Florida job. I don’t think it’s necessary to get into those today, mostly because it’s mid-September and Florida has a coach. This topic is wildly stupid. It’s fueled by irrational fans and dimwitted engagement farmers looking to fill air time or story quotas. So, the next time you see a twitter clip of a guy in front of a microphone wearing a t-shirt that’s two sizes too small, blabbering about Lane Kiffin to Florida, remind yourself that that person is an imbecile who is begging you to react to it.

Take a breath, relax and ignore the stupidity of others. None of it is remotely rooted in reality.

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Matt Jones bet on himself and it’s paying off

Ole Miss running back Matt Jones is a walk-on, but really in title only. He was an unrated prospect out of Jackson Prep in 2021 and held offers from several group of five programs like Southern Miss, Arkansas State, and Texas State, among others. Jones was considered a good running back but not an SEC-caliber prospect. He respectfully disagreed. He declined those offers and elected to walk-on at Ole Miss.

“It was really just a decision to bet on myself,” Jones said. “I knew I could play at the power five level. Coming out of high school, I had some mid-major offers. Jerrion Ealy was my mentor and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Here I am.”

Jones waited patiently for three seasons as Ole Miss brought in other running backs in what has consistently been one of the most potent rushing attacks in the SEC under Kiffin. Now, Jones is finally getting his opportunity. He’s cemented himself as the team’s second back. He’s totaled 22 carries for 165 yards and three touchdowns this season. Jones has seemingly beat out Ulysses Bentley IV for the role of complimenting Henry Parrish. Jones’ bet on himself is paying off.

“I think the game has slowed down for me,” Jones said. “Gaining the knowledge and acquiring the skillset a running back should have, I feel like I am finally rolling now.”

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Pegues embracing versatility in several ways

Last week, Ole Miss flashed what appears to be its go-to short-yardage package when it brought defensive tackle J.J. Pegues into the game on two different occasions to convert a fourth and short. Pegues is 6-foot-2, 325 lbs. He was a tight end in high school before flipping to the defensive side when he arrived at Auburn. It proved to be effective for the Rebels in the blowout win over Wake Forest. Pegues flashed his athleticism on the first conversion when he jumped over the top of the pile.

“The defensive line submarined the offensive line and I realized that I couldn’t go outside, so I figured there was only one way to go: up and over,” Pegues said. “I jumped, and the rest is history.”

Pegues said his teammates told him afterward that they didn’t know he could jump that high, to which he responded by telling them to google his high school highlights.

Pegues was also moved around on defense out of necessity. Defensive end Jared Ivey exited last week’s game with what appeared to be an ankle injury. Pegues slid out to strong side defensive end in Ivey’s absence.

“You’re out in the suburbs out there,” Pegues said. “It’s free. No double teams. It’s mano y mano. I loved it. I still practice it from time to time. It challenges me with my eyes and having different keys. It was a good challenge for me and I feel like I lived up to it.”

With Ivey’s immediate status uncertain, I am curious to see if Ole Miss plays Pegues on the outside again this week. I can’t imagine Ivey will suit up for this game, and who knows how long he will be out beyond that, so Pegues’ versatility is proving to be valuable to Ole Miss on both sides of the football.

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Lastly, here are five things I will be thinking about when Ole Miss plays Georgia Southern on Saturday.

1. Offensive line rotation

Ole Miss got Gerquan Scott back last week after he missed the first two games with an injury. Scott spent most of preseason camp working with the first team offense at center. Reece McIntyre played center in his absence. Last week, Scott played at guard and rotated with Julius Buelow — who’s filling in for an injured Jeremy James. Kiffin said earlier this week he anticipates Scott playing some at center in the future. I think he will become the permanent starter there eventually. So, how does that affect the rest of the line? Ole Miss will eventually get Caleb Warren and James back from injury. The Rebels have plenty of depth on the offensive line, which has allowed the offense to thrive despite a trio of linemen out due to injury early in the year.

Ole Miss is still searching for its best five linemen. I doubt they find that combination this week, but I am curious to see how the Rebels rotate up front, who plays where, and how much closer, if any, they come to finding their best five.

2. How does the secondary hold up

In its two games against FBS opponents (Boise State and Nevada), Georgia Southern has thrown the football 50 and 37 times respectively in each contest. The Eagles have had decent success. Quarterback J.C. French has completed 59 percent of his passes in those two contests at about 11.5 yards per completion. I don’t think this Georgia Southern offense is going to be a particularly telling challenge for the Rebels’ secondary, but the Eagles have a good receiving corps and competent quarterback play. I am curious to see if Georgia Southern finds any success throwing the football.

Ole Miss has rotated a lot at its safety spots and probably feels pretty good about its two starting corners. If there is a potential question mark on defense, it’s at safety. I am not sure how much we will definitely learn about it during this game, unless the Rebels get gashed, of course.

3. Defensive line play with Ivey out

I sort of covered this earlier in the Pegues note, but if Ivey is unable to play, how does that change the rotation and who plays more? Does that at all change how Suntarine Perkins is used? Do we see more of Chris Hardie or Kam Franklin? These are all complete guesses. I am curious to see how different it looks if Ivey is not out there.

4. Cayden Lee’s emergence

Cayden Lee has cemented himself as a significant part of a loaded receiving corps. He is a great route runner, and through three games, is seemingly always wide open. Lee has 13 catches for 225 yards through three games. His emergence has improved Ole Miss’ depth and versatility in the passing game. If he continues to play well, it will only elevate a passing offense that’s already operating at an extremely high level.

5. A strange reunion of sorts

There’s history between coaches and players in this one. Georgia Southern coach Clay Helton was on Lane Kiffin’s staff at USC. He served as the interim coach for the bowl game the year Kiffin got fired (replacing the first interim coach Ed Orgeron, who resigned upon learning Steve Sarkisian was hired for the permanent job over him). Kiffin spoke glowingly of Helton earlier this week.

“Clay is awesome. He’s one of the finest people I have ever been around,” Kiffin said. “It was another one of my dad’s things. He had a way of finding great coaches. I didn’t know anything about him. We were at USC, looking for a quarterbacks coach and my dad said I needed to interview Clay Helton… He was at Arkansas State sleeping on his office couch at the time. We did the interview and I was just really impressed with him.”

Helton echoed the same.

“I have kept a relationship with Coach Kiffin long after USC. I have so much respect for him,” Helton said. “I’ll hug his neck before the game and I’ll go hug his neck again after the game. He changed my life. He and his dad gave me an opportunity and made me a better coach. I wouldn’t be here today without them.”

Helton eventually became the head coach at USC after Sarkisian was fired. Helton recruited Jaxson Dart to USC. Helton’s firing in 2021 is what ultimately led Dart to Ole Miss.

"Jaxson is near and dear to my heart, having the opportunity to sign him out of Utah," Helton said. "There's no surprise how well he's playing and no surprise he's a Heisman Trophy candidate. He's always had that 'it' factor about him, winning a championship in the state of Utah. Now he's carrying over that championship attitude in what I think is Coach Kiff's best team he's had.”

Thanks for reading. We will have more coverage after the game.