Lane Kiffin is entering his third season as the coach at Ole Miss, and he’s tasked with sustaining the success for which the groundwork was laid last season when the Rebels went 10-3 and made the Sugar Bowl for the first time since the 2015 season. If he’s going to sustain that success, though, he’ll have to do it without former star Matt Corral, who will be one of the first quarterbacks off the board in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft. Also gone are running backs Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner, as well as wide receivers Dontario Drummond and Braylon Sanders.
Translation: Kiffin has some work to do. But luckily for Ole Miss fans, most of it is already done.
Kiffin lured Jaxson Dart away from USC to succeed Corral and lead the Rebels offense after Dart threw for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns in six games last season for the Trojans. That’s not a bad resume, but Dart also has some competition from veteran Luke Altmyer. The result is a healthy culture of competition that championship-caliber teams need.
“I know it’s kind of coach-speak. Both guys have made a lot of plays. It’s a good competition,” Kiffin said earlier this month. “Without getting into too much depth, Jaxson has made more plays down the field, but he’s made more mistakes, too. Luke has been a little more consistent that way. Probably what would happen knowing one guy’s been in the system longer, so we’ll see.”
Kiffin also convinced former five-star running back recruit Zach Evans to move to Oxford from TCU after he rushed for 648 yards and five touchdowns in six games. Former SMU star Ulysses Bentley (610 yards, four touchdowns) has also found a new home with the Rebels. They will be the leaders of a revamped running back corps without Ealy and Conner in the mix. Ole Miss…
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