Transfer safety Teja Young happy to reunite with Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss: ‘There was no decision on where I was going’
OXFORD, Miss. — At the beginning of his college career, safety Teja Young got a taste of the appetizer. As a graduate transfer, he is getting his just desserts.
Lane Kiffin recruited Young out of West Palm Beach, Fla., to play for him at Florida Atlantic. After two years with the Owls, Young saw Kiffin head to Oxford. After graduating from the Boca Raton school, Young wanted a second chance to play for the man who gave him an opportunity to play college football.
“It’s full circle for me,” Young said.
“Coming out of 2018, Lane recruited me. When I graduated (from FAU) and entered the portal, there was no decision on where I was going. I kind of knew where I wanted to be. Once they gave me the chance, it was all in.”
Teja Young on transferring to Ole Miss
No one could blame Young for wanting to end his college career under Kiffin.
In his redshirt freshman season at FAU, the Owls won the Conference USA title and the Boca Raton Bowl. During the 11-3 season, Florida Atlantic reeled off seven wins to end the year, including six in the league. In the final two games, the Owls beat UAB 49-6 and then topped SMU 52-28 in the bowl game.
During his time at Florida Atlantic, Young tallied 160 total tackles — 80 of them solo stops — in 49 games. He was also a three-time honorable mention all-conference selection and in 2021 was tabbed to the league’s first-team all-conference squad.
Absolutely MASSIVE pick six by Teja Young pic.twitter.com/5FGjZ1X81I
— BarstoolFAU (@barstool_fau) October 1, 2022
Kiffin is getting a player he is familiar with, but Young is a different man than the one who suited up for the Owls. He is a college graduate, a former co-captain of his team and most importantly, he is more mature.
Young believes Kiffin has changed a bit as well since he left south Florida.
“I feel from where I am now to where I was then, I think Lane has grown more social with the team,” Young said.
“He’s a good leader. There’s never confusion with the coaches or anything. Everybody’s on the same page. From 2018 when I first met Lane to now, I feel like he’s grown as a person, player and coach.”
Teja Young on Lane Kiffin
The scenery of once being near the Atlantic Ocean and now being nearest to Sardis Lake, the closest body of water near Oxford, is a bit of a change.
But what is familiar to Young is the defensive scheme at Ole Miss.
“My comfort level in this defense is pretty good,” Young said.
“At FAU we ran the same exact defense. Mike Stoops was our (defensive coordinator), so this is the same exact defense. Him and (defensive coordinator) Pete (Golding) run the same thing. Both of those guys have Alabama origins in their backgrounds, so I mean the only difference really is just like the terminology. But when it comes to scheme and technique, it is the exact same.”
Young on the Ole Miss defense
Perhaps the reunion between Kiffin and Young can produce the exact same result as the last time they were together.
Double-digit wins and a conference title.
The Rebels open the season Sept. 2 at home against Mercer. The game will kickoff at 1 p.m. and can be seen on the ESPN+ and SEC Network+ channels.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
