Lane Kiffin and Jaxson Dart: Ole Miss’ dynamic duo is off to an 8-1 start for the second straight season, first time for the Rebs in back-to-back years since 1961-62
OXFORD, Miss. — It’s been quite the ride for Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and his quarterback, Jaxson Dart. Coach Kiffin has a way of smoothing out the rough edges before polishing up the finished product. From all appearances thus far, that finished product will take the field Saturday undeterred by the bedlam that awaits between the hedges. It’s truly not about thinking in terms of winning or losing, but about execution. Because through execution, everything else falls in line.
Yes, this duo is off to an 8-1 start for the second straight year, the first time in back-to-back years since 1961-62. The Rebels have cracked a national top 10 for the third straight season, the first such streak since 1962-64.
But for this Ole Miss coach, it’s nothing new. He’s been around championship teams in the past. He’s fully aware of who and what it takes to get there. But you can’t plant your coaching tree until you’ve won a championship yourself as a head coach. And Ole Miss under his leadership and direction is certainly fertile ground.
Lane Kiffin has a realistic shot at double-digit wins for the second time in three years. Eleven wins would surpass the all-time regular season record the Rebels put up in 2021. Ten wins matches it.
But again, it’s nothing new to Coach Kiffin. When he took the Florida Atlantic job, the Owls hadn’t had a winning season in eight years. The great architect of the U, Howard Schnellenberger, left FAU in 2011 after a 1-11 season. Prior to Kiffin’s arrival, they’d gone 28-68 in eight years and he inherited a team that had gone 3-9 for three successive years.
So what’s he do his first year out of the box? He goes 11-3 overall and 8-0 in conference play. The Owls averaged over 40 points per game and surrendered less than 23.
THERE WAS NO TRANSFER PORTAL!
A down year followed but back they came in 2019 with a SECOND 11-3 record and a second bowl win.
Since Kiffin’s move to Ole Miss in 2020, Florida Atlantic is currently 19-23 overall and is now coached by former Texas coach Tom Herman.
The transformation at Ole Miss has been no less dramatic. The respect that has surfaced is beyond expectation. The brand that is being built and the explosion of talent now being drawn to the university and to the program are unmatched in Ole Miss history.
The Ole Miss statistics are the numbers of the elites. Since 2020, Ole Miss leads all FBS teams at 504.8 yards per game and ranks fourth in total yards at 22,718. The wins have been incredible and the crowd response amazing. Four times this season the Rebels have trailed in the fourth quarter and come back to win with a dazzling display of intricate offense and shut-down defense — and grit in their will to win.
Jaxson Dart has started 22 games at Ole Miss and was favored in 19 of them. Coach Kiffin has been favored in 20 of his last 23 Ole Miss games. It’s likely unprecedented.
The only times they’ve been underdogs together were twice to Alabama and the other to LSU a few weeks ago. What a statement this Ole Miss football program is making. It is amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit, sure, but these two men working together — their psyches seemingly impenetrable — have done wonders.
David Walker
David is the consummate true-freshman quarterback, first pioneering the position only a year after college freshmen were given varsity eligibility by the NCAA in 1972. In 1973, the left-handed all-state gunslinger from Sulphur, Louisiana started for the Texas A&M Aggies and earned the All-Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year award as selected by the league’s coaches. David is the first college quarterback ever awarded Freshman of the Year in the NCAA. He was only 17, and still holds the NCAA record as the youngest starting quarterback in college football history. He wore No. 8 at A&M in honor of one of his football heroes, Archie Manning.
In becoming the winningest quarterback ever at A&M, David was converted from a dual-threat QB to a triple option trailblazer. The two-time team captain led three record-breaking offenses that changed the direction of football at A&M forever, establishing once and for all the winning tradition that the Aggies had so-long desired.
As a high school head coach in Houston in the late ‘80s, David stationed his quarterback in the shotgun formation, having him reading defenses and throwing hot routes at a time when such offensive schemes were frowned upon by traditional fans and coaches. One of his quarterbacks tossed 57 passes in a single game, which stood as the all-time Greater Houston Area record for many years.
As you can tell from his bona fides, David is extremely qualified as our expert on all things Quarterback at Ole Miss. Enjoy his exclusive analysis only here at The Rebel Walk!
