Lane Kiffin Discusses Love of Oxford, Undecided Quarterback Competition to Begin Game Week
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OXFORD, Miss. -- Lane Kiffin still hasn't given a public answer to his quarterback competition, but he has said one thing: he's thankful for Oxford and the Ole Miss Rebels.
Kiffin was made available to the media on Monday leading up to the Rebels' first game against the Troy Trojans, and he addressed how he felt about the direction of the program heading into his third year at the helm.
His enjoyment of Oxford has come in part from his daughter Landry moving to the area and his new dog Juice, but he gave praise to the city and program early this week.
"Sometimes, you reflect on things," Kiffin said. "There's so much excitement about the program, but I feel like I needed Oxford and Ole Miss a lot more than it needed me. I enjoy it here. It's been awesome and really cool.
"I don't know that I would have said that in the beginning just with living in the different cities I've lived in. With Landry moving here and Juice and how people are here, it's been really awesome for me. It's been part of a lot of changes that have taken place personally."
So far, it appears that Kiffin's time at Ole Miss is paying off. Prior to his hiring, the Rebels had come off an NCAA investigation and multi-year postseason ban. When he was hired in December of 2019, the Rebels had just posted a 4-8 record complete with a nationally-embarrassing loss to Mississippi State in Starkville.
Since then, Kiffin has gone 15-8 at Ole Miss, including a 10-win regular season in 2021 that ended with a Sugar Bowl berth. A large part of that success, however, was quarterback Matt Corral who is now in the NFL. As Kiffin searches for Corral's replacement, it will come in either Jaxson Dart or Luke Altmyer this season.
"We still have not made a quarterback decision," Kiffin said. "I thought they both played okay, but I would have thought that we would have performed better in that situation against the other team. We'll keep plugging away. I do not know when I'll have that answer."
While Rebel fans wait on an answer at the field general position, Ole Miss is preparing to open its season against the Troy Trojans on Saturday, a team led by former Rebel assistant coach Jon Sumrall.
"These guys have always had really good players," Kiffin said. "They're always one of those teams that you're not that excited about scheduling."
In preparation for Troy, the Rebels held a "mock game" on Saturday, and Kiffin walked away with some improvements in mind.
"I don't think we played great," Kiffin said. "As much as we try to create a game day atmosphere and get players to play really hard, sometimes this happens without a crowd. I did not think we played great in all three phases by any means.
"That's why you've got to show up every day no matter who you're playing. That was our service team, and the game was a lot closer than it should have been."
The Trojans feature an all-new coaching staff under Sumrall, and the Rebels have to deal with the uncertainty that comes from an opponent with a new staff on Saturday.
"That's difficult because you have to watch film from other teams," Kiffin said. "You're watching the film for scheme, but then you get lost in the players, and you're not even playing these players. Games like this, it's more about doing things that we're really good at."
Hopefully for him, the Rebels "will be really good" at quarterback, regardless of whether Dart or Altmyer gets the call on Saturday. For now, the plan is to not play a two-quarterback system in the opening week, but it hasn't been fully ruled out.
"I would certainly think we'd go with one or the other," Kiffin said, "but I don't know that for sure. We're always looking at what's best for the team."
The Rebels and Trojans are scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.
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