Kiffin extended, Ole Miss headed to NOLA, CFP is set
What is in Jeff Lebby's future? What does Kiffin's extension mean for Ole Miss?
Hope everyone had a good weekend. We have a new podcast out with former Ole Miss recruiting specialist Weldon Rotenberg discussing Lane Kiffin’s extension, Jeff Lebby’s future, Ole Miss heading to the Sugar Bowl and the College Football Playoff. Check that out here anywhere you get podcasts.
We’ve got much of the same to talk about in this space, plus some basketball and other things.
Kiffin signs lucrative exension
Lane Kiffin signed a contract extension with Ole Miss. The school announced it on Saturday evening. The new deal pays Kiffin between $7.25-7.5 million over the next four years.
As you can see from the incentives laid out in the deal, there is a realistic path for Kiffin to make $8 million next year. That is a lot of money. Not just a lot of money for Ole Miss. That’s a lot of money for any program to pay its football coach. It sends a message that Ole Miss is a program that is committed to winning big and is more than capable to pay as much as any program in the sport to sustain and build on success. This is a good thing for Ole Miss and Saturday was a good day for Ole Miss.
Kiffin was asked about the extension at his Sugar Bowl press conference on Sunday.
“These things sometimes take time,” Kiffin said. “This had been in the works for a while. It was just announced yesterday. This was not just about me. It was about a lot of things. Getting things in place, which Keith (Carter) and the Chancellor (Glenn Boyce, also known as Not Jeff Vitter) were all about it, and it just takes time. It’s about getting things in place in the future for the players like facilities, and getting things in place for the coaches so we are able to keep these guys around and compete at the highest level, which is what we are trying to do. Not just for one year either, like this year with 10 wins, but for a long time.”
I imagine that was a pleasant quote for Ole Miss fans to read or hear. Look, every coach says things like this after signing an extension that makes an already rich man an even richer man. It’s not like he’s going to say “yeah, this is nice and all, but I have no idea if it will matter beyond this year, because when something better opens up, I am out of here.” But I do think it was important because fans sought a public-facing commitment from Kiffin that they hadn’t seen or heard over the last couple of months as the program returned to relevancy. Even if those statements often ring hollow, there is PR value in them and people certainly enjoy hearing it.
I don’t know how Kiffin views his current job in a long-term sense and I have no idea if he believes he can compete at the highest level here, but I don’t necessarily think that matters a ton at the moment. Ole Miss survived a coaching carousel that saw LSU, Florida, Miami, Oklahoma, USC, Notre Dame and Oregon open up and were able to retain a head coach that helped orchestrate the winningest regular season in program history in year two. That’s a huge victory. The Rebels proved they can make their head coach one of the ten highest paid coaches in the sport. That’s also a win. And lastly, now there’s no uncertainty about who is running the program as the early signing period approaches in a year in which Ole Miss loses a lot of snaps and contributions from this Sugar Bowl team. That’s important, too.
One final thought come to mind when thinking about how all of this unfolded. I wonder if Kiffin learned anything during this ‘Silly Season.’ Hypothetically speaking, let’s just say Kiffin badly wanted to get out of Oxford for a better job. (Again, I have no real concrete idea on whether he did or did not, this is just a thought exercise). He wasn’t a serious candidate for any of the Blue Blood openings. You know, the jobs that you can point to and, if you’re honest with yourself, understand him leaving Ole Miss. His name never came up at Florida. He wasn’t a factor in the LSU search and he was never on Oklahoma or USC’s radar. I think we all learned that there is a disconnect between how fans and media view Kiffin versus decision makers with hiring power. I imagine Kiffin learned at least some version of that too. And if he wonders why, perhaps it’s his nomadic reputation? It’s not really even a reputation as much as it is well-documented history. There is no track record of Kiffin having long-term success anywhere he’s been. That doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of establishing it, he’s just yet to do it. Did that unquenchable desire to seek what’s next, coupled with the Kiffin Brand and everything that comes with it, tarnish how he’s viewed by administrators at Blue Blood schools? Who knows, but I doubt it’s completely irrelevant.
I also don’t think it is a complete coincidence this news broke as Miami zeroed in on Masrio Cristobal. That was the only realistic landing spot for Kiffin, and Miami isn’t even a better job than Ole Miss. Who knows if he’d have taken it if offered. That’s a moot point now. But he is a guy that has a history of always searching for a better situation and I am just curious whether part of him wonders why one didn’t surface, even after a 10-win season. Whether he pondered this or not, it’s now clear that the path to that attaining what he (hypothetically) desires is winning at a high level for multiple years. That’s a good thing for Ole Miss, even if you as a fan don’t like the source of motivation. Whether Kiffin asks to be buried in the middle of The Grove or has Zillow bookmarked on his laptop is irrelevant because loyalty and longevity as it pertains to head coaches in major college football are rarities bordering on extinction. Kiffin winning at Ole Miss is a great thing for the football program, even if it ends up being for short period of time. Because if and when he does leave on his own, that means a rare level of success was achieved and Ole Miss seems to have competent leadership in place to give the program a good shot at hiring a replacement that will continue that trajectory. While the situations aren’t close to equal, Keith Carter hired Lane Kiffin while Ross Bjork tried to hire Dave Doren. They are not the same.
For now, the coach who won you all 10 games is staying in Oxford. That’s a good thing for Ole Miss.
SkyBox is destroying the NFL, college football and college basketball. College Basketball is just getting cranked up and is BY FAR their best system. They’re up 105 units over the last two years and their max plays have cashed at 65 percent over the time period. Why not pay for your Christmas shopping by using SkyBox? It’s the closest thing to automatic that you’ll find in wagering
They are also giving out DAILY FREE PLAYS in college basketball. All you have to do is hit this link. What are you doing not utilizing them? It’s free money. Go get their picks right now right here. They have a package for your preferred sport that will fit your price range. You’re missing out by not going to pay them your business. It will pay off in your bank account. Use the promo code “rippee” for 20 percent off any purchase. These guys are the real deal.
Lebby to Oklahoma, per report
Oklahoma hired Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables over the weekend. The news broke on Sunday, but Venables surfaced as one of the favorites to land this job from the time Lincoln Riley’s plane departed for Los Angeles, as did his intentions to bring Jeff Lebby on as offensive coordinator. I didn’t know what to make of that report last week. It made sense on the surface, but Oklahoma hadn’t hired or even offered Venables at that point, so the Lebby portion of it seemed incredibly premature. But now that Venables is officially the head coach of the Sooners, it’s real and it is likely where Lebby is coaching next fall.
I don’t know anything for certain, and I am mostly making a fairly educated guess, but what I do know is this: Lebby is highly-respected within the industry and is one of the best offensive minds in college football. He is an Oklahoma alum and will be offered a healthy contract as well as complete autonomy of the offense. And while I have been told repeatedly not to undersell the autonomy Lebby has at Ole Miss as it pertains to the system, and that this is definitely his offense, the Oklahoma marriage makes too much sense. Venables is a defensive-minded coach. The Sooners are one of the seven best programs in the country. Lebby and Kiffin’s marriage always felt like it was out of necessity more than anything else. It’s definitely a mutually-beneficial partnership that has been successful but it never felt like a long-term match. Is anything a long-term match in this sport anymore? Hell, the Venables-Dabo partnership was probably the greatest outlier there is when it comes to that. And while I don’t necessarily buy into the ‘Lebby wants credit for offensive success’ narrative, particularly after talking with Weldon, who, ya know, worked for the guy, I do think there there is some merit to Lebby seeing the Oklahoma job as his project that is completely his to build — and the Sooners have some pretty good pieces to put it all together.
Anyway, this is probably a good time to encourage you to subscribe to Rebel Grove. Among the litany of reasons you should join is that Neal McCready is pretty damn connected when it comes to the coaching carousel and he’ll keep you well-informed on any and all Ole Miss coaching staff turnover, including what happens with Lebby.
The bottom line is that Lebby has options and it feels like the Oklahoma gig makes the most sense. I guess it wouldn’t completely stun me if Lebby stayed, but I would be mildly surprised if he did. I just don’t see it. I imagine some Ole Miss fans will be frustrated by this. If you are, I’d ask you this: in August, what did you think the odds were that Jeff Lebby would be at Ole Miss in 2022? It seemed fairly obvious he’d move on after the season if the Rebels had a good year. I guess most figured he’d leave for a head coaching job. I thought the same thing, and I can see how losing Lebby to another offensive coordinator gig can be frustrating, but given the context, it makes sense.
The good news for Ole Miss is that if Lebby does in-fact leave, the Rebels have a head coach with a pretty solid batting average when it comes to hiring assistants. I have no clue who Kiffin would look to hire. There are a couple of names that come to mind, but I’d like to see how all of this shakes out first before getting too far into that.
Current Deal: For being a loyal subscriber, just show proof of subscription and you’ll get a 16 oz. prime strip for $20 and a pack of sausage for $5. That’s a hell of a dinner on the grill for 25 bucks. Go check out LBs, it’s the best place in Mississippi to get meat and Oxford is lucky to have it.
Rebels headed to Sugar Bowl to take on Baylor
Ole Miss is headed to its 10th Sugar Bowl in program history. The Rebels will face Big 12 Champion Baylor, who beat Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship in a game that ended like a sports movie. The Bears stopped the Cowboys at the one yard line as time expired. Former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda has led one hell of a turnaround in Waco. Baylor went 2-7 last season and is now 11-2 with a conference championship.
For Ole Miss, this was the best possible bowl outcome, given how the fan base covets the Sugar Bowl, the close proximity from a travel standpoint and the Rebels’ history in this game. We’ll dive into this a lot more in the coming weeks, but a couple of quick notes on Baylor.
The Bears led the Big 12 in rushing and average roughly 214 yards per contest. They do it with a pair of running backs Abram Smith and Trestan Ebner. Quarterback Gerry Bohanon isn’t a major factor in the running game but is capable and used as a threat in the red zone. He’s only got 70 carries on the year but has nine touchdowns.
Bohanon didn’t didn’t play in the Big 12 Championship game due to a hamstring injury. I assume he will be healthy by the time this game kicks off, but it is something to monitor.
Baylor led the Big 12 in interceptions and have one of the better safety groups in the country. J.T. Woods and Jalen Pitre are names to watch out for and Jairon McVea made the ridiculous play to preserve the win for Baylor on Saturday.
We’ll have a lot more on this as the game gets closer. This should be a fun matchup.
College Football Playoff set
College football’s postseason is here. And though I contend that a four-team playoff, which is really an invitational decided by a bunch of suits in a room, is an incredibly stupid way to crown a champion, this year’s edition is as closest thing we’ve had to an unpredictable outcome since the systems was implemented in 2014.
A Group of Five team finally got in. The Cincinnati Bearcats ran the table in the regular season, including a road win at No. 5 Notre Dame and will have their chance to prove they belong at the big kids’ table. All they have to do is defeat the greatest dynasty in the history of the sport.
I am happy Cincinnati got in. I am hardly a G5 apologist, but I find it incredibly stupid that the G5 is the only faction of college sports that has no real postseason or championship. Those conferences and the schools that comprise them have remained in this bizarre middle ground in which their only attainable goals are to win the conference the Power Five tells them sucks anyway, and hope to get in a good bowl game because they’re not good enough to have the right to compete for a national title. I don’t think it’s the same level of football as the Power Five and I never thought every undefeated G5 team over the years deserved one of the four spots, I just thought it was silly and unfair that an entire portion of college football had no real championship to play for. And if the Bearcats were snubbed this year, it would’ve basically cemented that no G5 team was ever getting in until this thing inevitably expands.
I think Cincinnati is representing a lot more than a city that eats bad chili and a school that’s nestled right next to the zoo where they shot that gorilla that got thousands of presidential votes (RIP in peace, Harambe). I think that, fairly or unfairly, the Bearcats’ performance against the Crimson Tide will be influential in how G5 teams are viewed in years to come with regard to the playoff and I don’t think that is just the four team version. I don’t know what expansion will look like, but I do think this game will carry weight in how G5 programs’ are viewed in an eight or 12-team playoff format. It’s a tall challenge and I am fascinated at how it plays out.
Georgia was exposed against Alabama on Saturday afternoon in the SEC Championship game. I was firmly in the ‘Alabama cannot block Georgia’ camp and was pretty surprised by the result. I also felt silly for doubting Alabama, but given the version of the Crimson Tide I watched over the last five weeks of the season, I truly felt they were overmatched — as strange as that sounds. Instead, Alabama blocked Georgia pretty well when the Bulldogs didn’t bring pressure and the Tide’s speed at wide receiver was too much for Georgia’s secondary. Jameson Williams was a menace. So was John Metchie until he left with an injury.
If there is a rematch, I am curious to see what that looks like without Metchie, who is out for the season. That’s a huge loss. But Georgia has to do something different. Kirby Smart has built this program through the front seven. When Georgia is better than its opponent up front, it is dominant, but when the talent and skill is comparable at the line of scrimmage, the Bulldogs’ offense isn’t dynamic enough to win high-scoring games. Stetson Bennett was never going to beat Alabama in a shootout, and after the Tide scored 24 points in the first half on a Georgia defense that allowed 80 points all season, that was the Bulldogs only path to victory. I believe Georgia CAN beat Alabama in a National Championship rematch. I just don’t know if I believe in Kirby Smart’s capability to adjust his team’s playing style to one that is more conducive to beating Alabama.
Lastly, what a story this Michigan is. Everyone had Harbaugh penciled in as fired by the end of November. The Wolverines started the season unranked, won the Big 10, beat Ohio State and got into the playoff. I think there is a lesson to be learned here regarding patience in an industry that definitely lacks it. Harbaugh entered the season 49-22 (34-16) in six seasons in Ann Arbor. That’s hardly failure, but in this day and age of impatience, buyouts and nine-figure contracts, anything short of winning the Big 10 and making the playoff is stupidly seen as failure. Instead of panicking, Michigan stuck with Harbaugh, reworked his contract to make it a little more Michigan-friendly and gave him time. I doubt Michigan’s administrators thought this would be the year that decision would pay off, but it did and their patience proved to be prophetic. This team runs the ball well, kicks people’s ass at the line of scrimmage and has a competent quarterback.
I think Georgia handles Michigan fairly easily, but I wonder if ADs will take a lesson from Michigan. With so many programs racking up buyouts and making rapid changes that often breed dysfunction rather than the stability they seek, I wonder if we will see more patience with successful coaches that can’t quite get over the hump. I seriously doubt it, but it does make you wonder why not.
Ole Miss beats No. 18 Memphis
The Rebels notched a an impressive, quality win over the Tigers on Saturday. While it may not have looked pretty in game’s waning minutes, this looked like a better version of this Ole Miss team and it won this game in a manner in which it will have to win games this year. What do I mean by that? Jarkell Joiner scored 20 points, and while his perimeter shooting wasn’t as good as its been for most of the early part of the season, he got to the free throw line at a much higher rate than he has at any point in his career. Joiner went 7-8 from the foul stripe. He’s only shot eight or more free throws in a game one other time in his Ole Miss career. That’s indicative of him beating people off the bounce, something he’s struggled to do consistently, and being aggressive.
Ole Miss got the supplementary offense to Joiner via Matthew Murrell. He made four three-pointers in a 19-point performance in 32 minutes. Murrell showed flashes of what this coaching staff desperately hopes he will turn into. Ole Miss got after Memphis defensively, particularly on the perimeter. Joiner and Luis Rodriguez were terrific on that end. Rodriguez’s defensive play in the final seven minutes was invaluable to preserving this one despite some ball-security miscues late. I doubt Kermit Davis wanted half of the team’s 51 field goal attempts to be three pointers, but Ole Miss got to the free throw line enough to make up for it and were very good defensively.
Ole Miss is a team that is limited offensively, but man, the Rebels are good on the other end. If this team can just be consistently competent on the offensive end — they have a chance. The margin for error is slim playing this way, but it’s the best formula with the way this team is constructed.
On the horizon
An NIL-centric podcast, followed by some bowl preview stuff, recruiting and picks on the pod
Week full of newsletters on football, Baylor, hoops, golf and whatever else pops up
That’s 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 the subscribe button below. It is free.