Lane Kiffin Evaluates Spring Practice, Roster Challenges for Ole Miss Football

OXFORD, Miss. — With spring practice in full swing, Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin provided insight into the team’s progress, key position battles, and the impact of new and returning players.

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— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) April 1, 2025

Opening up his press conference following Tuesday’s practice, Kiffin harped on working hard to fine-tune their system, having a fully retained coaching staff, and finding strengths and weaknesses.

“I think guys are working really hard. Like I said before, to have all of our coaches back so there is no transition with that other than systematical stuff because we have a lot of new players. I think the passing game on offense has done some really good things, we have a lot of good players in the passing game — I think we have had some injuries up front on the offensive line — defensively we have done a really good job up front — we have a lot of work to do in the secondary.”

~ Kiffin in his opening statement

Transitioning

With the influx of new players, adjusting to the Ole Miss schemes has been a challenge on both sides of the ball. While many of last year’s new faces had SEC experience, this year’s additions are learning a fresh system, especially in the secondary.

The Rebels are returning just two players in the secondary that played for the 2024 Ole Miss team in TJ Banks and Cedrick Beavers, neither of them being starters in their roles a year ago.

“There are so many new pieces. Even though there were a lot of new pieces last year, they had played a lot, guy you’d see start in the SEC — I feel like there are a lot of guys in a new scheme here, especially the back seven defensively.”

~ Kiffin on the challenges of roster turnover

Adding to transfers and returners learning a new system, the Rebels welcomed 14 early enrollees this spring, allowing them to get a head start on college football. Though still high school-aged, their presence in spring camp has been valuable for their development according to the head coach.

Allowing early enrollees to get reps is often a challenge due to the change in pace of play at the collegiate level, and Kiffin explain the importance of remembering the age of his freshmen players.

“Those guys that make that transition, it’s hard to remember that they are still supposed to be seniors in high school — it’s good to have them here and good to work with them.”

~ Kiffin on the early enrollees

Continuity has been a key factor in the Rebels’ offseason, specifically within the staff. For the first time in Kiffin’s tenure, the entire coaching staff has returned, an uncommon feat in today’s college football landscape. The Ole Miss head coach says ensued that knowing your staff going into the offseason is a plus for development and recruiting.

“Here it is rare, I don’t think we ever have. I think there was a run up until last year where we never even had all of the coordinators back, let alone the other 10 coaches — I think that also says a lot about the program, where we are at. These guys had a number of opportunities to leave and chose to stay, love living here in Oxford but love where the program is going.”

~ Kiffin on returning all 10 coaches from the ’24 staff

It’s worth noting that through the past three to four years, it has been very difficult to poach coaches away from Ole Miss athletics staffs, much less the football program. Coaches such as defensive coordinator Pete Golding, defensive line coach Randall Joyner and tight ends coach Joe Cox have certainly had opportunities for promotions elsewhere, but Kiffin explained the upward trend of the program playing a huge factor in retaining staff members.

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— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) April 2, 2025

Strengths and weaknesses 

Austin Simmons’ relationship with Kiffin will grow as the days continue to pass by, but finding a player to replace Jaxson Dart is quite the task. Most notably, the arm talent of Simmons stands out to everyone who watches, but it’s the dual-threat ability that still holds a question mark.

In three years at Ole Miss, Dart accumulated 371 rushing attempts for 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns. On Tuesday, Kiffin explained that although he believes Simmons is a smooth runner, the style will be much different from Dart’s. While the former signal-caller had many designed runs within the offense, Simmons will be more of an improvisor in the backfield.

“A play broke down the other day and he had a long run in a scrimmage. He runs well, kind of a smooth runner. He’s not going to run violent like Jaxson, he runs more like a running back in that way — there’s not a lot of called running (for Simmons), just more smooth scrambles.”

~ Kiffin on Simmons’ dual-threat abilities

Although there is no clear sign of who will be backing Simmons up in 2025 between AJ Maddox and Louisville transfer Pierce Clarkson, there is no ignoring the strides Maddox has made going into year two at Ole Miss.

While the depth is somewhat lacking at the quarterback spot, Kiffin acknowledged the improvements the Mississippi native has made after spending a year on the practice squad behind Dart and Simmons. Maddox is no longer asked to just make plays, but to call them.

“I think anytime you go from your first year off the practice team there is a transition. You’re not going off play cards anymore, you’re not just running around making plays, which he does a great job of. Now you have to play within the structure of a system, and he’s done a really good job with that.”

~ Kiffin on AJ Maddox

Kiffin also explained the areas in which the Rebels were thin and needed improvements. When asked about the position group that stands out so far, the answer of wideouts came out quickly.

Ole Miss lost four of the primary targets from the 2024 roster, only returning junior Cayden Lee who was the third leading receiver on the team a season ago. Yes, the transition period for the pass catchers is still in full swing, but the confidence in that room is at all time high for the Rebel head coach.

“I think receivers. There are so many new guys, almost all of them are new — They are low ego, low maintenance guys. We have had a really good run of receivers, a lot of them that are really good kids.”

~ Kiffin on the WR room

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— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) April 3, 2025

As Kiffin explained in his opening statement, the secondary may be the weakest spot on the roster thus far. However, getting reps for early enrollees and returners lacking experience has been a key factor in the Spring for the Landshark defense. Another area in which the Rebels are thin right now is the offensive line, as injuries have kept a handful of players sidelined so far this Spring according to the head coach.

Up next

With the no Grove Bowl Spring game for a second consecutive year in Oxford, the Rebels will continue to build chemistry and refine schemes before the conclusion of spring practice. The Meet the Rebels event will return to Oxford for the first time in the Kiffin era on April 12, scheduled to be held inside of the Manning Center Practice Facility. Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for more updates as Ole Miss prepares for the 2025 season.