TRANSCRIPT: Everything Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said on first day of spring practice

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin met with media Wednesday following the Rebels’ first day of spring practice.

Here’s everything he had to say:

Coach Kiffin’s Opening Statement

“Alright, so, I know this was kind of last minute on you guys about scheduling, but kind of why we did that, I think just really listening to players and where we’re at from an install standpoint and so many new guys and you know, we’ve kind of erred on the side now (kind of starting last year especially) of really not practicing quite as much or as long in the spring than we used to, and even last year didn’t even do the last three allowed practices. So, we just kind of were talking and went ahead and started a little early here to get two of them (practices) in today and Friday before spring break to kind of get us a feel of where we’re at. And they’ll have spring break off and then come back and continue on with the practices. So it was good to be out there with them. We do have a lot of guys, which I’m not going to go through the list, but a lot of injuries, off season surgeries which gives an opportunity for a lot of other guys to be able to play out there.

“So, we’re definitely not at full strength, which is fine, because we don’t play games right now. But like I told our guys, I think that, well, I know this, 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.”

Question: Lane, it’s been reported that you’ve added Zach Arnett as as an analyst. Is that accurate? And what made that something that you wanted to do?

Coach Kiffin: “That is. I’ve had a lot of respect for Zach and thought they did a great job, over there in Starkville during his time on defense and caused people problems. And so, had been in discussions. Actually today, I think is his first day. But, I’ve always liked what we learned from Coach Saban. And it’s a two-way street. You know, both ways you give people opportunities and they get to come learn from you. And it’s exciting that we kind of have another what you would call big name probably happening here soon also to add to our staff. So I think that shows people wanting to come here and be a part of it, but also we don’t just hire anybody because they were head coaches. It’s people that we think are really knowledgeable in the conference and as coaches in general to add to our staff. So, this was a really good fit that way. He (Arnett) came down, met with myself, met with Coach Golding and, you know, excited to put him in the defensive room and especially with his conference knowledge. And, so should be really good.”

Question: Lane, You mentioned the conference knowledge (of Coach Arnett), but the fact that he coached in such kind of a close proximity to Ole Miss and knows so much about the in-state recruiting. How much of a benefit is that having a guy that coached on the other side of this rivalry in Mississippi, joining your team?

Coach Kiffin: “Yeah, I don’t know how much of a benefit, but, you know, that really wasn’t the motive. The motive was this is somebody that I’ve always thought does a really unique defensive scheme and causes people a lot of problems for years. So that was a big part of it. And then after that, yeah, there’s knowledge of recruiting in the state. I don’t know how much of that is a big benefit, but it’s just good to have them over here.”

Question: If you have a success in the portal and you talk about almost having a new roster every half year or a little bit longer, with with the turnover, do you feel like at this stage you’ve kind of got a grasp of the right way or the, the good way to, to handle that chemistry when it comes to spring?

Coach Kiffin: “Yeah, I think so. And then, they made unlimited transfers. So, there was a system that they put in place. I said in the SEC meetings, in college football with regards to the portal, NIL is a disaster. I said that last year, and then they really changed a major thing in the system. And now everybody can transfer multiple times. So that creates really different ways of going about this. And, you know, now you’ve got to worry about losing all your guys multiple times, twice a year because there’s as of now there’s two windows.

“So I think that you could have had a plan and maybe you could say our last year plan worked well because we won 11 games and were very portal heavy. And now you got to adjust again. So it is what it is until they figure out some semblance of a system that would model professional sports, and these would be employees, and they would have real contracts and everybody would know. Until then, you just have this. And I know it sounds strange… I would take this out of it, I’m the first to admit Ole Miss, as much as anybody, benefits from the transfer portal and the system. And I’m telling you, even with that, how much it helps us personally, it is a disaster. And it got worse. So it is what it is. We’ll just always continue to adjust as they continue to make the system worse.”

Question: I guess obviously starting things off now and with a team that has so many expectations, like the way that you guys do, heading into next year, What’s kind of the buzz been like, you know, around the guys? I know it only was the first day, but does it seem like a little different compared to other years of spring ball with you here?

Coach Kiffin: “Well, maybe a little bit, I think, just because you do have the first year here really where you have this combination of influx of talent plus a lot of really good returners, I don’t think we’ve really had that. So there’s not a lot of holes to replace.

“Normally you’ve got between the NFL draft, senior eligibility and the people leaving in the portal, you have a lot of starters to replace and a lot of significant players to replace. We don’t have that. There’s only a few combined between the NFL. What we had I think only three guys go to the combine, DeCam (Decamerion Richardson) makes four guys go to the combine, and then really basically losing Q in the portal as the only significant player. So that’s not a lot of spots to fill. So yeah, there was excitement out there. Again, it looks really good as a roster, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Question: I know this was something that was kind of brought up, uh, late last year, particular during the Peach Bowl about additional technology being used. Is that something that eventually down the line, y’all will look into yourselves or is it a matter of if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

Coach Kiffin: “Yeah. I really didn’t worry much about it. One, because it wasn’t in play. And two, I really don’t think after years of doing this two times in the SEC, I mean, I kind of joked with (SEC Commissioner Greg) Sankey, that myself, Saban and he were the only people still in the SEC meeting head coach’s meeting from when I was head coach at Tennessee. He was actually the assistant commissioner in the beginning. And now that Coach (Saban) has retired, he and I are the only ones left. So my point is kind of that I’ve been doing this for a while now. And, seeing that I don’t think at the end of the day the coaches have much say. So, I just really don’t get too involved.

“And whatever they make the rules to be, they make the rules, and then we just try to maximize them. So if we have it, I think people think it’s a defense advantage. In my opinion, it’s an offensive advantage being able to talk to the quarterback the whole time, especially shouts of at 15, which really wouldn’t affect us much because how fast we go. So. If it’s here and it sounds like it is, then we utilize it.”

Question: Lane, I know you’ve mentioned about last season how big of an impact getting the chemistry right was. Did you learn anything that you can apply at this time of year to try to get that right with this team as well? 

Coach Kiffin: “We spent a ton of time on it 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.

“But talent, you know, you guys know I’m realistic. And what I say is, talent can override culture. I don’t care what people say. You get a super talented, great, elite, talented team, and they can they can beat lesser players that have culture. But culture is very important, especially when it’s close. 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 zero and zero. And everybody in this program from myself to quarterback is zero and zero. So that’s how we’ve restarted this thing.”

Question: What is Jaxson able to do right now? I know he had some some off season stuff going on.

Coach Kiffin: “Jaxson threw seven on seven today and some routes on air. But he did have an offseason procedure and he’s very limited movement wise.”

Question: Do you have, expectations of when he might be able to be back? Or are you just kind of bringing him along slowly, like in terms of being back to, you know, full strength?

Coach Kiffin: “I don’t know exactly. It’s a lower body issue so he can still throw. And like I said, the seven on seven. So I think he’ll continue to get back.

“But, you know, every cost has a benefit. And, that benefit is the other people getting getting reps and being able to play a lot. And in that absence, I think, Walker (Howard) and Austin (Simmons) — even coming back from playing baseball, coming over here — have done a great job.”

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.