Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss hire former NFL head coach Joe Judge to Rebels staff

Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels have made a major hire to their coaching staff once again ahead of the 2024 college football season.

Former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge is joining Kiffin in Oxford, according to Zach Berry of OM Spirit.

“Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has made waves already this offseason with a few hires,” Berry wrote. “At first it was snagging Billy Glasscock away from Texas. Then it was hiring former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett. And to follow it up, the Rebels grabbed another general manager in SMU’s Alex Brown. Then, April 2, Kiffin hired former NFL director of personnel, Alex Williams.

“Now, Ole Miss has done it again with the hiring of former New York Giants head coach and longtime NFL assistant Joe Judge.”

Judge was most recently an assistant head coach with the New England Patriots in 2023. Prior to his second stint with the franchise, he was an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach with the Patriots.

Additionally, Judge was famously the head coach in New York for two seasons. The Giants fired Judge earlier this year after just a 10-23 record, after his infamous QB sneak call that sent social media into a frenzy.

Ole Miss has a ton of potential for 2024, and Lane Kiffin is hoping Joe Judge can help cultivate that moving forward for the Rebels this upcoming season.

Lane Kiffin: Ole Miss football roster has ‘NFL vibe’

People have often said that college football is becoming more and more like the NFL, and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin agrees. The Rebels head man had some interesting observations regarding the offseason process this year and how different it has been compared to the past. 

Teams across the country are well into spring practice in a year that will mark several big changes, from conference realignment to the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12. When speaking on the experience of the Ole Miss roster this season, Kiffin explained that the best way to sum up the difference was that it had an “NFL vibe.”

Even though the Rebels do have a lot of older players, many of them are transfers who are having to learn a new system. He noted that they still pick up on things quicker than a freshman would, but likened the situation to NFL free agency with high-profile players changing teams each season. 

“It does (open things up), but then even though they’ve played other places and been experienced, they are new to ours,” Kiffin said. “It’s like they pick up better because they’re older. It is a very NFL vibe because we always have so many new players, but this I think more than ever are players that have played a lot, especially in this conference. So it kind of feels more like, ‘OK here’s free agency. Here’s all these pieces have experience and played — some in similar systems as ours.’ Then piecing it all together. 

“Right or wrong, I’ve erred on the side of we’re gonna do a lot of mental work and a lot of practicing, but we’re not gonna do a lot of tackling and physical work just for the wear and tear of offseason and the season and potentially a lot of games. I’m not saying we’re gonna play a lot of games, but potentially the new format has a lot of games.”

It’s clear times are changing in college sports and Kiffin’s comments only go to show how much. It’s certainly an interesting insight from someone who is right in the middle of the change, and also finding success in the process. 

Ole Miss finished 10-3 this past season and will look to continue to build under Kiffin moving forward in this new world.