Column | Culture isn’t what you think or want to do, it’s what you actually do; Lane Kiffin and Rebels ready to bring it in 2024
OXFORD, Miss. — Culture is not what you think, or want to do, it is what you actually do. Culture can be defined as “the way of life for an entire society.” With respect to the Ole Miss football program, culture is what head coach Lane Kiffin is continuing to build in Oxford, and its importance cannot be underestimated.
Nowadays with NIL and the transfer portal, a team’s roster can turn over quite dramatically from season to season but to be successful, for the most part, there must be a strong culture — a culture of hard-work, fierce determination, and unwavering commitment to the goals set forth. Last year’s Ole Miss team had it and this year’s looks to duplicate the ‘pro mindset,’ as the team describes it.
Ole Miss is projected by many to be in the Top 5 when the 2024 season begins, and it’s fair to say the Rebels would consider it a disappointment if they do not make the new 12-team college football playoff that commences with the upcoming season.
There’s no doubt the team has a talented roster. The Rebels have 60 returning letterwinners and 17 Division I transfers among the 31 mid-year enrollees who are already practicing together. Four of the top 50 available transfers in the nation are now suiting up for Ole Miss, a part of the nation’s No. 1 transfer portal class.
But as head coach Lane Kiffin explained earlier this week, this strong roster does not mean the Rebels will have a great team in 2024.
“We have a really good roster. I understand there’s a lot of kind of preseason hype around it, all that stuff. But that doesn’t mean we’re a good team just because we have a good roster. Our roster would certainly look like the best one since we’ve been here, probably by far, because you have so many returning pieces from last year. And then these additions of other pieces that a number of them have been starters at other places and been really good players. So it’s a really good roster, which you guys will talk a lot about. But that does not mean we’re a good team. It’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of culture building for that to happen. Because you guys have all seen in this sport or different sports, these really good rosters put together in the off season, whether that’s the NBA or NFL, and does not always translate to wins.”
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin
Last year before the season began, Coach Kiffin explained he believed the culture on the 2023 team was such that it would better handle adversity than its predecessor in 2022 did.
“It’s easy to be a certain way in life or as a team until adversity hits, then it’s tougher when things aren’t going your way. I feel better about this team for when those situations happen.“
Lane Kiffin before the 2023 season
He was right.
Ole Miss went on to finish 11-2 with a New Year’s Six Bowl win in the Peach Bowl over Penn State, recording the most wins in program history. As in the most wins ever.
The Rebels found themselves forced to come from behind in a number of key games last year, oftentimes in the fourth quarter, in order to ultimately win. A big part of the ability to do that stemmed from the team’s mindset and culture.
That will certainly be critical for the 2024 version of the Rebels as well, and no one knows that better than Coach Kiffin.
“We spent a ton of time on it (culture) bringing people in, talking about culture, labeling culture, having different levels of culture, you know, using culture one hoodies, maybe, that, that few people in the building have. We spent a lot of time on this because it’s always been important.“
Lane Kiffin
Kiffin did acknowledge that while there are some cases where an incredibly talented, elite-level team can occasionally override culture, for the most part, the culture is what ultimately will decide their fate.
“But culture is very important, especially when it’s close,” Kiffin explained.
“And now it’s more important to redo your culture every year because your roster is turning over, half your roster is turning over. So, I just think it’s really important. And even though we have so many pieces coming back and really good leadership, we’re not banking on that and we’re just restarting. And this team is 0-0. And everybody in this program from myself to quarterback is 0-0. So that’s how we’ve restarted this thing.”
Lane Kiffin
Coach Kiffin and his staff and players are taking nothing for granted. They know their preseason ranking — and the expectations for the group — will be high. They know there will be plenty of rat poison to go around. But they also will have a leg up on many teams because of the groundwork they have put into place with respect to culture.
You can look for leaders such as quarterback Jaxson Dart, receivers Jordan Watkins and Tre Harris, tight end Caden Prieskorn, offensive linemen Jeremy James, Micah Pettus, and Caleb Warren, running back Ulysses Bentley IV, defensive linemen JJ Pegues and Jared Ivey, linebackers Christopher Paul, Jr., Suntarine Perkins and Khari Coleman, defensive backs Trey Washington, John Saunders, Jr., Trey Amos, Louis Moore and Key Lawrence all to have a huge say in the culture of the Rebels.
I would say Ole Miss football is in great hands! Hotty Toddy!
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
