TRANSCRIPT: Everything Lane Kiffin said as Ole Miss Prepares to Host Tulane

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss sits at 3-0, 2-0 in SEC play and is now preparing to host Tulane Saturday. On Monday, head coach Lane Kiffin met with media to talk about the upcoming game.

Here’s everything Coach Kiffin said:

Lane Kiffin: Alright, so we discussed the game with you guys yesterday, last night. So nothing new on that. Put that to closure with the players this morning and got them on to this challenge this week. You know this (Tulane) is a really, really good football team in all phases. They made special teams plays, obviously they play good defense. And now with this quarterback, you know much different than what — you know we prepare in the off season after spring ball for the upcoming opponent — so very rare that outside of a portal window you can get a quarterback. So that’s changed a lot with them. He’s looks like one of the best players in America. And they got really good scheme and they they play really hard defense. Same, defensive structure and coaching than when we played Troy here. They do a great job tackling. They play really physical. And, this is one of the better-coached teams in the whole country.

Question: Last night you when you alluded to the way their team tackles under a Sumrall team, and you just felt like it was a lost art. Is there a moment you felt like that that shifted in that mentality, where teams aren’t really emphasizing tackling like they are?

Lane Kiffin: I don’t know when when that exactly was, you know, I don’t know that. That’s a good question. I just feel like it sticks out now when you see a team that really tackles low, that really does a good job. Their players get dirty. You know, seem like getting themselves dirty by going down and tackling play after play. I guess I would say maybe in a generation now that, you know, just wants to have a big hit and stay up and worry how clean their uniforms are and how good they look.

Question: We asked you last night about Austin (Simmons), and you hadn’t talked to him yet. Have you talked to him? And I guess, how’s he doing?

Lane: Yeah, he’s doing good. I would anticipate Austin being fine to play and being our starting quarterback.

Question: Obviously, about asking about Trinidad. But just as your history as an SEC coach, have you taken many shots on D2 guys and what’s kind of been the success rate?

Lane: I don’t think we have, but I think that part of that was because you weren’t in a free agency portal world before, so you didn’t take near as many transfers and they had to sit out. So, you know, that’s all changed now to where it’s truly like the NFL, you know, like free agency. And so, you know, we try to look at everybody and we’ve taken a lot of guys from Group of Five schools over the years and really have had a lot of success with that. So there’s no reason not to go down another level just because I think those guys are really easily wired right. They don’t have the five-star syndrome. They weren’t the highest recruited guys. They just want to work and they want to buy into a program and be part of a team.

Question: Beyond what you’ve said already, what is it about a Sumrall team that’s maybe gives you all maybe some troubles, because that Troy game a few years ago, it was a slow start till you pulled away in the second half.

Lane: Yeah. I just think they play really physical. It’s a really defensive team. You can see it’s a defensive head coach by the way how physical they play, by the way they tackle. You can see his footprint on that. And with the quarterback now they’ve become even more of a problem as a team because he’s he’s so dynamic and can do so many things. I think he set school record Saturday with most rushing touchdowns or something. It’s pretty amazing in your third game there and then coming as late as he did, you know, after the portal window was closed. So, they’ve got a really good team and really challenging. And I’m sure they’re watching last week’s film.

Question: Coach, I want to ask you about Kewan Lacy didn’t have big numbers running the football, but after rewatching the film, some little things like blocking, catching passes, that sort of thing. How integral has he been for you this year on offense?

Lane: Yeah, he didn’t have the big numbers last week, but I think a lot of that was schematically, defensively. They they had a plan, it seems to me, you know that was if Trinidad played, how they were going to play and they were going to stop the run and make him throw. And they were very much committed to stopping the run in that game even after halftime. And, so that’s a product. What happens in those games? You got to make plays outside and running back numbers aren’t as big. But he ran really hard. He’s taking care of the ball really well and he passed protects really well. You know he’s had some couple big explosive plays the last two weeks. He’s picked up A-gap blitzers, very physical.

Question: And following up on that, pass protection, the offensive line appeared to do a better job for you guys on Saturday.

Lane: Yeah. They did. They did a good job. It was a pretty clean game from a standpoint of offensively with the ball. And a lot of that has to do with protection. You know, we saw two of Austin’s picks where he’s getting hit when he throws them. So your protection has a lot to do with turnovers and not having turnovers. So it was it was pretty good for most of the game.

(Feature image credit: Karis Chambliss, The Rebel Walk)