Nick’s Notes: Kiffin and Rebs preparing for Tulane; Campbell, Parrish, Jr. visit with media
Head coach Lane Kiffin, RB Henry Parrish, Jr., and LB Chance Campbell visit with media
OXFORD, Miss. — After the 54-17 win over Austin Peay Saturday, head coach Lane Kiffin and the Rebels now turn their attention to Tulane, who will come to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday.
The Green Wave is 1-1 this season following a week one loss to Oklahoma — that came down to the final drive — and a blowout win Saturday over Morgan State. Following Monday’s practice, head coach Lane Kiffin addressed the media about the upcoming game.
Coach Kiffin’s Opening Statement
“Back to work. Good to be back in normal week after not really having one. This (Tulane) is a really good team. Very talented. Very well-coached, that’s not coach-speak, you see it on film. When you watch them, they’ve got really good players. A lot of times when you play these Alabama and Louisiana schools, they have a lot of players that are in state. They can’t all go to Alabama, Auburn or LSU.”
Kiffin on Tulane:
“They are really multiple, well coached, they cause issues. (They have) a really good quarterback that can move, again. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Kiffin on Tulane’s defense, specifically their physicality and if that shows on film:
“It does. Like I said they have a lot of good-looking players. They start different guys, and they rotate them in. It looks like they have 22-24 players that they feel really good about.”
Kiffin on if there are any leaders or stars on the Ole Miss defense or if the defense is getting a more widespread contribution from players:
“I think it showed up with Springer (starting safety) not playing last week. He’s very physical, you saw the way he was hitting in the opening game, so we missed that last week. I didn’t think we played great on defense, we played OK. The two defensive ends made a lot of play with their rush. We obviously did not play very at corner, with all the pass inference calls, and two deep balls. We have to play better and tackle better.”
Kiffin on defensive linemen Tywone Malone and Demon Clowney, who saw their first significant playing time of the season versus Austin Peay:
“We need guys to come along. We’re not playing many guys up front right now which is not good.”
Running back Henry Parrish, Jr.
Running back Henry Parrish Jr. met with media after practice. The sophomore from Gould, Florida has 16 carries so far this season for 110 yards and four catches for 25 yards. He has accumulated eight carries in each of the two games thus far.
He was asked what the team is doing to help stay focused on the upcoming game versus Tulane, rather than looking too far ahead to the following game versus Alabama.
“Just the details. Getting in the film room every day, preparing ourselves for our opponent and just come out with a good attitude, grind every day and work to get better.”
Parrish Jr., on readying for Tulane
Parrish Jr., on Tulane:
“They’re aggressive. They get around the ball, we just have to make guys miss and focus on the details to put myself in position to succeed.”
Parrish Jr. On splitting carries with other running backs:
“It’s going to be like that the whole year so we’re just going to have to get in a groove. Like I said, details and it’s going to make it go.”
Parrish Jr., who is averaging almost seven yards a carry this season, was asked what the expectation are and how they continue to grow. “Keep working, It’s right there in front of us,” he said. “Coach Smith gives us the game plan and how we are going to do things. We just have to execute and execute at a high level.”
Linebacker Chance Campbell
Linebacker Chance Campbell also visited with media after Monday’s practice and offered his thoughts on the upcoming game.
“I think they play with a ton of heart.” Campbell said of Tulane.
“They run what they have really well. They are fairly multiple, they have a wide variety of offense. They hit you with a lot of volume. I think they are a talented team that plays really hard, we saw that both week one and week two. It’s definitely something we have to be ready for.”
Chance Campbell on Tulane
The Maryland transfer has come to Ole Miss and already made a great contribution to the defense. He was asked if he feels like contributions are coming from a lot of areas on the defense.
“Yeah, I feel like a lot of guys are playing really good ball,” Campbell said. “It’s coming from a lot of areas. I think we’ve done some great stuff on the interior; we’re doing really well in the back end. I think it’s coming from a lot of areas, outside in, inside out. That’s what you want on a defense. We have to just keep taking the next step.”
Campbell was asked what he think the next step is for the defense. “More consistency, you can never hurt from gaining more consistency.”
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Graphic: Nick Filipich)
Nick Filipich
Nick Filipich was born and raised in Biloxi, MS. He is an Ole Miss alum with a degree in Sports and Recreation Administration. A sports junkie with a great passion for all things Ole Miss, Nick played baseball and football in high school — which is where he discovered his love for sports. He is an avid Braves and Saints fan, and in his free time enjoys spending time with family, friends and his black lab, Dixie.
