A Visit with Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Strength and Conditioning Coach John Reilly: An Inside Look at the Physicality and Mentality of the Rebels’ team
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media on Monday after practice as the Rebels started week three of fall camp.
This past Saturday, Ole Miss closed out the second week of camp with a scrimmage. Kiffin assessed his offense and defense and singled out some players who are having strong camps.
“We’ve had a good start to our camp. We’ve stayed relatively healthy. I think part of that is our ramp-up type of camp schedule,” Kiffin said.
“I thought the defense played really well on Saturday. I thought the D-line, especially the top guys, played extremely well. We’re still shuffling around some different ideas on the offensive line, different combinations. We came in throwing more to guage the quarterbacks, after Jaxson Dart especially. I think we got some good work done. We have a long way to go.”
Lane Kiffin on the Rebels’ Saturday scrimmage ending week two
Kiffin also mentioned two transfers expected to play big roles.
“We still have two significant portal players (Juice Wells and Princely Umanmielen) with injuries that we expect to be significant pieces to this season. We look forward to getting them back fully here shortly.”
Ole Miss did get Utah State transfer wide receiver Micah Davis on the field, and he has been turning heads in practice.
“He was out there today making a number of plays,” Kiffin said.
“I think he can play inside and outside as a receiver with a unique skill set that way. We are very pleased to have him. Add’s some competition to that room and someone who made significant plays last year.”
Lane Kiffin on wide receiver transfer Micah Davis
Wide receiver Tre Harris also returns to the Rebels’ offense for one more season. Interestingly, Coach Kiffin alluded to his star actually being better than last season — which is hard to imagine, given Harris’ success in 2023.
“It may sound strange, if we were to vote on most improved players from last season, I would put Tre Harris in that group, which is saying a lot—basically a 1,000-yard receiver with missing some games. He’s had a great mindset this offseason. Sometimes guys come back and they’re a little comfortable and going through the motions because they know they’re supposed to have this big season. He’s really pushed himself out there. The Tre and Trey (Amos) matchup is really cool to see because they’re both highly motivated, competitive individuals. It’s really exciting to have him. I think this has a chance to be a really special year for him.”
Lane Kiffin on Tre Harris
One key to the Rebels’ offensive success will obviously be the big men up front. Kiffin believes they were not as consistent in the scrimmage as he would have liked, but he also discussed the positives of a deep unit that is going up against a very strong Ole Miss defensive line.
“(Offensive line) was up and down. I thought there were some good things. I know we’re deeper than we were at that position to where the first and second group can alternate and go in, not having a lot of drop off and seeing a lot of competition there, and a couple guys can play with multiple spots. That’s in a really good place. They didn’t play as consistent as I would’ve liked, but again, they’re going against a pretty elite and talented defensive line that played really well on Saturday and that caused issues. That was the goal of getting these guys together. Maybe we can have one of those few defensive lines in the country that at times can really disrupt and take over a game.“
Lane Kiffin on the offensive and defensive lines
Next Up
Ole Miss will be back out on the practice field Tuesday evening, and we will be there to bring you all the details. The Rebels kick off the 2024 season against Furman on August 31 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
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.
