Reports say Lane Kiffin Set to Hire Charlie Weis, Jr. as next Ole Miss Offensive Coordinator
OXFORD, Miss. — Reports are that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin will be hiring Charlie Weis Jr. to take over the Rebels’ offensive coordinator position, replacing Jeff Lebby who left for the same position at his alma mater, Oklahoma.
The coaching carousel has been intense this postseason, so it comes as no surprise — especially with Ole Miss’ success in 2021 — that the Rebels are facing some coaching losses leading up to their Sugar Bowl berth.
Wednesday, as the Rebels prepared to head to the Big Easy, reports broke from On3’s Matt Zenitz that Kiffin had found his next OC.
Weis Jr., has served as the offensive coordinator at South Florida for the last two seasons.
Together Again
This will not be the first time Kiffin and Weis Jr. will join forces.
In 2018 and 2019 when Kiffin was at Florida Atlantic, Weis was his offensive coordinator, helping lead the Owls to a 2019 Conference USA Championship. The FAU offense ranked in the top 20 nationally in total offense and scoring offense, ending the 2019 season with an 11-3 record and a victory over SMU in the Boca Raton Bowl.
In 2018, Weis’ offense ranked 14th in the nation in total offense with 478.8 yards per game.
When Kiffin hired Weis at Florida Atlantic, Weis was the youngest coordinator in FBS history. And when Weis arrives in Oxford in 2022, he will be the youngest coordinator in the SEC, as well.
Before joining the staff at FAU, Weis was in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons in 2017. In 2015 and 2016, Weis was an offensive analyst at Alabama — while Kiffin was there — working with running backs and quarterbacks.
Prior to that he spent three seasons at Kansas under his father, former Kansas head coach Charlie Weis. He also spent the 2014 season in the New England Patriots Volunteer Training Camp as a 21-year-old intern. He was an offensive quality control coach at Florida in 2011.
The Weis name is one many in football know quite well. Weis Jr.’s father, as mentioned above, is Charlie Weis, former head coach at Notre Dame and Kansas, who also made stops in the NFL as offensive coordinator for the Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Young Gun
The 28-year-old Weis is regarded as a bright offensive mind. Back when Kiffin hired him as his OC at FAU, Weis was just 25 years old.
When Kiffin was asked by ESPN about his OC’s youthfulness, he replied:
“Age is irrelevant. Experience is relevant. I can be 50 years old, and if I’ve only coached for three years, then I’ve only coached for three years. He (Weis Jr.) was this child coaching prodigy. When everyone else was playing in college, he was coaching. He’s coached with Will Muschamp at Florida, at Kansas with his dad, he’s coached at Alabama with Nick Saban, and he’s coached in Atlanta, and he’s coached here (FAU). There’s a lot of 40-year-olds that will never be able to say that.”
Lane Kiffin on Charlie Weis, Jr. (in an ESPN interview when HC at FAU)
Kiffin’s respect for his apparent new offensive coordinator is unquestioned. In the same ESPN interview, the head coach spoke highly of Weis.
“When you sit in his meetings, if you closed your eyes and just listened — the way he commands a room, the way he commands the players, the other coaches way older than him — you’d never guess he was 25.“
Lane Kiffin on Charlie Weis, Jr. (in an ESPN interview when HC at FAU)
As for recruiting, Weiss comes in among the top 15 recruiters on the 247Sports rankings and is known for developing not just quarterbacks, but running backs as well.
It looks like Kiffin has made another strategic move for the Ole Miss offense and things will continue to be Sweet in the ‘Sip as we head into 2022.
Hotty Toddy!
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Lee Ann is the Director of Recruiting for The Rebel Walk. She is a veteran SEC sports journalist and NFL content writer. She is also the Sr. Editor for MESPORTS digital. Herring-Olvedo is a Brown University graduate who loves good cigars, good games, and a smooth glass of bourbon — not necessarily in that order.
