Ole Miss Football’s Lane Kiffin Named Semifinalist for George Munger College Coach of the Year
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – (Release) Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin has been named a semifinalist for the 2023 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, as announced by the Maxwell Football Club on Thursday.
Kiffin is one of 14 semifinalists for the award nationally, as well as one of just three from the SEC alongside Alabama’s Nick Saban and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz.
Kiffin has guided the 2023 Rebels to a 10-2 regular season and a New Year’s Six berth to play in the Peach Bowl, his fourth straight bowl bid in as many opportunities since taking over in 2020, and his second NY6 appearance in the last three seasons. This year marked just the second 10-win regular season in Ole Miss history, joining a 10-3 campaign under Kiffin in 2021 that ended with a Sugar Bowl berth. Additionally, Kiffin now stands alongside legendary Ole Miss coach John Vaught as the only head coaches in program history to chart multiple 10-win seasons.
Offensively, the 2023 Rebels put together another electric resume under Kiffin, whose Ole Miss teams since 2020 rank second overall among all FBS schools in total offense at 497.4 yards per game. This year, Ole Miss ranks within the top-15 of the FBS in passing efficiency (11th, 162.2), yards per completion (12th, 14.4) and total offense (15th, 455.4 YPG), while ranking fourth in the SEC and 19th nationally at 34.8 points per game. Ole Miss has done so with a balanced attack, ranking fourth in the conference in both passing (276.6 YPG) and rushing (178.8 YPG).
The Rebels also take extraordinarily good care of the football this year, leading the SEC in both turnover margin (+9) and fewest turnovers (7), the latter of which ranks third among all FBS schools. Impressively, Ole Miss has done all this with one of the fastest offenses in the nation, ranking second in the SEC and eighth in the FBS at 23.3 seconds per play this season.
The Ole Miss defense, meanwhile, has wreaked havoc both in the backfield and in the passing game all season long, ranking as one of the nation’s best in both sacks (2.8/game; No. 5 SEC, No. 16 FBS) and in interceptions (12; No. 1 SEC, No. 22 FBS).
Finalists will be announced on Dec. 21, and the winner of the 2023 George Munger Award will be announced on Wed., Jan. 10, 2024. The Munger Award will be formally presented at the 87th Maxwell Awards Gala, which will be held on Fri., March 8, 2024 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. Event tickets will go on sale Dec. 15.
2023 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award • Semifinalists
Alabama – Nick Saban
Arizona – Jedd Fisch
Florida State – Mike Norvell
James Madison – Curt Cignetti
Liberty – Jamey Chadwell
Louisville – Jeff Brohm
Missouri – Eliah Drinkwitz
New Mexico State – Jerry Kill
Northwestern – David Braun
Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin
SMU – Rhett Lashlee
Texas – Steve Sarkisian
UNLV – Barry Odom
Washington – Kalen DeBoer
(Featured image: Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)
Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
