Jaxson Dart discusses the highs and low of the season, the team’s resiliency in rallying after two losses, and the win over Georgia

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart joined ON3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman’s YouTube show earlier this morning to talk about the ups and downs of this season, the team’s resiliency in rallying after two losses, the win over Georgia and more.

Andy & Ari: Growing up in Utah, could you ever imagine being the king of Oxford, Mississippi?

Dart: “Well, I probably wouldn’t have found myself in Mississippi. I remember getting in the transfer portal, and I had to look up where Mississippi is on the map. It has been a wonderful experience, and I’ve always wanted to play big-time football. I think having dreams and aspirations of playing against the best competition landed me in the best possible place—playing in the SEC with a great team and a great coaching staff. As a little kid, you dream of playing on the big stage in big moments, so I’m really grateful to be a part of what we have going on here.”

Andy & Ari: I remember I was writing a recruiting column about you. During your recruitment, what did you learn about Ole Miss, and the second time through that you may not have known when you were a high schooler? What would your advice be to high school quarterbacks trying to find a destination?

Dart: “The recruiting process is completely different from what it was when I was in high school, just the ability to transfer and whatnot. I think the biggest thing I learned is to put yourself in the best situation to be developed… obviously you’re going to have the aspirations of starting as a freshman, but I think the most important thing is development. From a coaching standpoint, making sure you have the pieces around you—you have to have guys around you—that’s what makes you successful. I think the biggest thing I took away was the development piece of it, and at the same time, you have to set aside your comfort. Moving across the country is a hard thing to do, but if it’s the best place for you, that’s what’s most important.”

Andy & Ari: What was your first exposure to Lane Kiffin?

Dart: “Me and Coach Kiff met for the first time when I was in the portal. I think a big piece of it for him was that he’d just gotten done coaching Matt Corral, who was a West Coast kid. When I first got here, I was the only west coast kid on our whole team, so I think that made our interaction a little bit easier plus him having experience on the west coast… I think the very first time we talked, he was on a boat fishing in the Bahamas.

Andy & Ari: Do you think you guys have similar vibes? 

Dart: “Our personalities just match well. He’s a lot of fun on and off the field, and I think from a competitive standpoint, all he cares about is winning, and I think that’s something as a player you can respect and buy into. I think the more and more time we spend together, our relationship gets stronger… I love playing for him.”

Andy & Ari: Lane said he thought you weren’t coming back into the Georgia game, but you said you were always coming back… what’s going through your mind when Austin is running that drive?

Dart: “I never had a doubt that I was going to come back in the game. There’s a few precaution things that you have to take care of when you have a little injury like that, so I just had to get that wrapped up, take a little advil and I’m ready to go.”‘

Andy & Ari: What was the emotion like for you when you beat Georgia?

Dart: “I think there was a lot going through my mind. We had put ourselves in a pretty adverse situation, losing the two games that we did… we felt that we completely let those games go. Going into the game, our backs were against the wall, and we feel like we’re playing a playoff game every week because we understand if we lose, we’re out. The emotions going into that game were really high, and as you said, this was a big game for Ole Miss as a program. Ultimately, this is why a lot of us came back. This is why a lot of guys from different schools transferred in here to compete and win these types of games, so it was a special moment to see the team rally behind one another through all the adversity that we’ve faced in this season.”

Andy & Ari: How did you and the older leaders of this team rally everybody after the LSU game?

Dart: “It was nice that we had a bye after that, guys could really have their emotions and thoughts to themselves and have time to really just reflect on everything. The main message that we had with one another was that there’s a purpose that we all came here together. We just had to keep the faith, and I think when you’re in a situation like that, you can go two different ways: you can fold and give up or you can buck up. I think we have a lot of guys who have that mindset, you know, ‘We’re going to buck up regardless of what people have to say about us.’ I think once we were able to have that second half against Oklahoma and the game against Arkansas, it really gave us a ton of confidence.”

Andy & Ari: As the quarterback and leader of the team, what was it like seeing guys like Walter Nolen and Juice Wells come in?

Dart: “It was super neat to kind of see how it all unfolded. In Ole Miss’ history, you don’t consistently get those types of recruits to Ole Miss, especially before the system that we’re in nowadays. Just seeing guys like that from all over the country, even like Princely (Umanmielen), who came from Florida, they really saw the momentum, they saw the excitement that we have, especially with a head coach like Coach Kiffin, and there’s just a lot of juices flowing. It’s a lot of fun to be an Ole Miss Rebel right now… we were in competition with other schools to get those guys, but we saw the vision of the program.”

Andy & Ari: Princely is going back to Gainesville; what is that like for guys?

Dart: “We’re definitely getting information off of their experience, but at the same time, they do all that they can to try to treat it like another game. We’re humans, so you’re going to have more emotions going into the week… it might feel a little bit awkward, but at the same time, I think that those guys are super blessed and happy to be here at Ole Miss, and they want to do all that they can to win each and every game, regardless of who we’re playing.”

Andy & Ari: When you beat a team like Georgia, it’s not just another win. Does something shift in your brain when you accomplish that win?

Dart: “I think so. You have those thoughts, but the best thing that you can do is have the mindset of trying to go 1-0 each and every week, especially with the 12-team playoff. I think that got us hurt in the regular season because I think that games that we lost our focus wasn’t solely on that one team… we wrapped our heads around too much of the playoff. It really grounded us and humbled us losing those games. I think the momentum that we have after winning a game like that definitely gives your team some hope and confidence moving forward.”

Andy & Ari: Jaxson, when you have an NIL deal with a jet situation, how does that manifest in your life? Can you abuse that privilege?

Dart: “Honestly, I’ve only used the jet for me and my teammates if we need to go get treatment in a place or get some type of work, whether it’s in the offseason or getting one-on-one reps. I haven’t used any of it for myself, I’ve always used it for my teammates because I would have never even gotten that without them.”

As always, thank you for reading, and be sure to tune into ABC at 11 a.m. on Saturday to watch Ole Miss take on Florida.