Rebels' Lane Kiffin Facing Added Pressure in 2024?
OXFORD, Miss. -- Since being hired in 2019, Lane Kiffin has turned the Ole Miss Rebels football program into a premier destination in this new age of college football.
Kiffin has led the Rebels to two New Year's Six bowls, set the Ole Miss record for wins in a season twice, and could be poised to make more history in 2024 thanks to the expansion of the college football playoff. Armed with the No. 3 NCAA Transfer Portal class and one of the top returning quarterbacks, Jaxson Dart, Kiffin and the Rebels are looking to make some noise in 2024.
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There is a great deal of hype surrounding Ole Miss entering 2024, and hype is typically followed by added pressure to win. 247Sports recently revealed the 15 power conference coaches with "the most to prove" in 2024, and Kiffin made the list despite his recent success on the gridiron.
"Lane Kiffin led Ole Miss to a pair of New Year's Six bowl games so far during his time in Oxford," 247Sports writes. "But so did former Rebels' head coaches Hugh Freeze and Houston Nutt. Ole Miss went all in on the transfer portal with hopes of being a top contender in the SEC in 2024, potentially securing a bid in the expanding College Football Playoff. Kiffin needs to prove those roster moves — and money spent on NIL — were worth it. Fortunately for Ole Miss the schedule is favorable."
You read that right, Ole Miss' best at shot at making the expanded playoffs is because of strength of schedule. Interestingly enough, despite fielding a worse roster and facing tougher opponents, the Rebels still managed to finish the 2023 season ranked ninth in the country, which would have granted them a spot in the 12-team playoff beginning in 2024.
The pressure may be on Kiffin from the outside, but Ole Miss just signed him to another extension in December, adding "length and commitment" to his already existing deal.
