'There's Still Work Being Done': Lane Kiffin on Current State of Ole Miss' Recruiting Class

OXFORD, Miss. -- The first day of the early signing period has come and gone, and the Ole Miss Rebels had a good day overall.

While they lost a pair of four-star commits in edge Neo Avery and quarterback Marcel Reed, the Rebels were able to reel in a solid class that emphasizes quality over quantity, but they are not done yet.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin addressed the media on Wednesday in the middle of this strange and chaotic recruiting cycle making a point in his opening statement that the job is not yet finished.

"There's still work being done," Kiffin told reporters. "This is a strange signing time...it's not our full class, with guys potentially still out there to sign later today or on normal signing day. Plus with so many transfers, some already coming here and a lot we're still working on... we can't even talk about the ones coming here. It's a little bit strange...It's like talking about your draft class before the third day of the draft."

While the job is not done, Kiffin mentioned that he is satisfied with where the class currently stands, especially with the in-state recruits.

"Excited about the guys who [have already signed]," Kiffin said. "I think there's a lot of really good players in that group. Our coaches did a good job and our entire program is working really hard to put this together...Keeping a couple of really high-impact recruits from the state of Mississippi home."

Three of Ole Miss' top four signees are home-grown recruits who decided to stay in the sip. One of them happens to be the No. 1 recruit in the state, linebacker/running back Suntarine Perkins.

It was mentioned earlier, but losing out on Reed puts the Rebels in a bit of a pickle at the quarterback position. Backup quarterback Luke Altmyer has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and with Kinkead Dent's future up in the air, Jaxson Dart could be the only quarterback on scholarship soon enough. Kiffin addressed the depth concerns at the quarterback position.

"Things aren't always what they appear to be, I wouldn't say we lost a quarterback," Kiffin said. "It is what it is though...We do have some quarterback depth issues to work on. I think that, in general, there are depth issues around the country because you've got all these kids going into the portal...We have a lot of work to do at a number of positions but especially at quarterback."

You can follow Ben King on Twitter at @BKing_2023.

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