Mark Stoops analyzes Lane Kiffin's offense

Lane Kiffin teams typically win with explosiveness on offense. Particularly in the passing game. However, the 2022 Ole Miss team is getting the job done more so on the ground than through the air. Yet the overall offense appears to be just as lethal as in years past — at least through four games against pretty shaky competition.

Nonetheless, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops holds a lot of respect for Kiffin and his ingenuity on that side of the ball. Being a guy that came up the coaching ranks on the defensive side of the ball and running a defense-first program at UK, Stoops knows how difficult that Rebel offense will be to stop this coming Saturday.

At his press conference previewing the matchup down in Oxford, the Kentucky head honcho had nothing but praise for Kiffin and his adaptability, especially this season, as he’s had to pivot from a pass-heavy attack to a run-dominant style. Sort of the opposite of Kentucky, really. The ‘Cats for years under Stoops won games by pounding the ball with Benny Snell, Lynn Bowden and Chris Rodriguez. But this season they’re airing it out with an NFL prospect under center and game breakers at receiver.

Anyway, here was Stoops on Kiffin and his offenses and the respect he has for him:

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“So yeah I think they’re very aggressive. Their style and the tempo definitely puts pressure on you, you know. And so, I think also it’s a credit to him. Because you could see the way they are adjusting and and how creative they are in their run game this year, because they have, you know, very talented running backs and they have a scheme where they can take it a lot of different ways. And, you know, very complex and creative with the way they’re creating space — and then their play action off of it.

“But I think with Lane, he adapts to the players that are around him. They go back to the days competing against Lane way back when we’re at Arizona and he was at USC — much different style of offense, much different style defense. But obviously, always, you know, just a lot of respect for him and the way he coaches and their aggressive nature.”

Two very different head coaches in nature in Mark Stoops and Lane Kiffin. But there seems to be a lot of mutual respect between the two.