Moving on Up: Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are rising in the 2024 recruiting rankings
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin does not sugar coat anything —including what goes into recruiting nowadays. In fact, he frequently talks openly about things many coaches are reluctant to visit — NIL, ‘free agency,’ pay-for-play, and the effects of the portal on team chemistry and culture. What is becoming more clear to everyone right now, however, is that Kiffin — long referred to as the ‘portal king’ — is also quite adept at recruiting high school talent as well.
This past week on the recruiting trail is confirmation of that.
The Rebels have been slowly making their way up the 2024 team recruiting rankings, now moving into the top 25, as they currently sit squarely at No. 20 in the 247Sports Team Rankings.
If this upward trend is any indication, Coach Kiffin and company are setting up for a strong campaign heading into the home stretch of this cycle. Let’s take a look at what has predicated the Rebels’ rise.
The commitment of blue chip in-state defensive lineman Kam Franklin a little over a week ago on August 19 set the tone and served as an announcement the Rebels are going to take care of business in the Magnolia State.
VIDEO: Kamarion Franklin, 5-star defensive lineman and No. 1 player in MS, commits to Ole Miss! #SipMadeSipStayed #KamStayed
(Video credit: Kam Franklin Instagram) https://t.co/xDY2wWjfgZ
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) August 19, 2023
They then closed out this week, going two-for-two as they picked up pledges from a pair of 4-stars in ATH Noreel White, another elite in-state commit, followed by the top remaining uncommitted quarterback in the cycle in Florida native Trever Jackson.
🚨BREAKING: Ole Miss gets its man as talented 4-star ATH Noreel White commits to the Rebels! HUGE pickup for Lane Kiffin & Co. @MissKYUS2011 has more on the standout from Ocean Springs. #SipMadeSipStayed ⤵️ https://t.co/zfYGwOw0IR
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) August 25, 2023
BOOM! Four-star 2024 QB Trever Jackson chooses Ole Miss over A&M, OU, and UCLA. 🔥#ComeToTheSip @MissKYUS2011 has more on @Future_eraTrev’s commit! ⤵️ https://t.co/8zspyvBCcU
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) August 26, 2023
This strong push on the recruiting trail is helping build the program for the long haul and is showing that Coach Kiffin and his staff are able to attract not just the elite portal talent but also the top high school talent.
The Rebels now have 22 pledges in their 2024 class, and they are not done. The dynamics of this class demonstrate a few interesting things about the current state of Ole Miss recruiting. The Rebels are doing quite a bit of building from their own backyard, garnering three of the top five and four of the top ten recruits in the state of Mississippi. They are also finding talent to fit immediate needs, including hybrid players who can fill multiple roles.
Winning in the trenches
If defense wins championships, it frequently starts in the trenches. Ole Miss was already shaping up to have one of the most talked-about defensive units heading into the Pete Golding era, but with the addition of Kam Franklin, along with fellow commits Kamron Beavers, Jeffery Rush and William Echoles, Ole Miss could be on its way to having a future Top 5 defensive unit in the country.
Let’s call that the Pete Golding effect.
Quarterback U
When Demond Williams, the sole QB commit in the Rebels’ 2024 class, decided to re-open his commitment and ultimately chose to stay closer to home, it left many questioning if Ole Miss could build a deep quarterback room without heading to the portal.
If you haven’t learned by now, Coach Kiffin always has something brewing. After Williams’ decommit, it did not take too long for the Rebels to offer one of the nation’s top uncommitted QBs in Trever Jackson.
Jackson had already been making waves on the national scene and really started to turn heads during the Elite 11 Finals. But like many top prospects, he was also being recruited by other top Power 5 schools. But in the end, the “‘Sip factor” prevailed as his connection to Coach Kiffin was strong.
4-star QB Trever Jackson on committing to Ole Miss over A&M, OU and UCLA:
“It’s just that relationship I’ve got with Lane Kiffin. He’s known me since I was a kid. He’s just got that energy you want to play for and he has one of the most explosive offenses in college football.“ https://t.co/tCorTGVgvV
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) August 26, 2023
Flip to the ‘Sip
It wouldn’t be recruiting without a flip or two. Sometimes it’s the little things that ultimately make the difference. The persistence from the trifecta of Coach Kiffin, wide receivers coach Derrick Nix and coordinator of recruiting strategy Kelvin Bolden in remaining steadfast in the pursuit of Noreel White — in spite of his initial commitment to Arkansas — helped win the star wide receiver over in the end.
Ultimately, the Rebels not only flipped one of the most coveted athletes of 2024 in White, but they also kept home a top talent in their own backyard,
In the topsy-turvy age of NIL and all the other factors that drive the recruiting world, Lane Kiffin is finding success in Oxford. What makes his 2024 class elite is not just the talent — though that is certainly present — but also the fact that it is comprised of kids who have tremendous upside potential, even the ones who are highly-ranked blue chips.
Coach Golding recently said this about the players in Mississippi:
“When you get those guys with a high ceiling that aren’t there yet, they improve very quickly. I’ve always appreciated just south football, but Mississippi in general, because I think a lot of times you get a really raw athlete that loves football and is also appreciative… I think that mentality goes a long way and I think it carries over to defense, you know, that spot the ball mentality, put the ball down, we’re gonna play. I don’t care if it’s the parking lot, the playoffs, it doesn’t matter. It’s just who we are. I think for a lot of guys that’s ingrained in them in an early age in this state.”
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding
The current recruits are all students of the game with a willingness to keep growing to get better while having fun doing what they love.
That sounds a lot like their future head coach.
Hotty Toddy!
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Herring-Olvedo sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
