Todd McShay calls out Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss after surprise upset loss to Kentucky

Not many anticipated Ole Miss losing at home to Kentucky last Saturday, a disappointing 20-17 loss that dropped the Rebels from No. 6 in the rankings to No. 12 in the AP Poll into Week 6.

On the field, Ole Miss was dominated in time of possession and their normally high-powered offense struggled to run the ball and find the end zone. But analyst Todd McShay recently spoke about some of the bigger picture issues with the Rebels that may have led to their recent letdown on The Ryen Russillo Podcast.

“They’ve got a front-runner feel, I’ll just say it. Ole Miss has a front-runner feel to them as a program,” McShay said. “There’s a lot of social media, there’s a lot of splash, there’s a lot of recruitment. Lane Kiffin‘s the best in the country as a head coach in terms of the excitement, and you’re constantly showing up on my feed, and he’s flying private planes to places, and he’s stealing players, like all that stuff.”

McShay backtracked on his comment about Kiffin stealing players, regarded by some as the ‘Portal King’ this offseason after constructing one of the most talented rosters in college football. Retaining several of his top players from last year’s team and adding 26 new players out of the transfer portal, many from other SEC programs.

“Not stealing players. That want to transfer, NIL, I get it. Before I get in trouble,” McShay clarified. “If he was sitting right next to me we could laugh about it. He just loves those — here’s my private plane landing here at this airport. So it just has a feel, what’s it built on? I don’t know.”

Kiffin has definitely been doing things in his own way since taking over the Ole Miss program in 2020. Boasting a 38–16 record with two double-digit win seasons all while speaking his mind at the podium, being active on Twitter, and helping elevate the Ole Miss brand in a unique way.

But that same way has not resulted in any SEC title game appearances and a handful of disappointing losses that have kept the Rebels right outside of the mountain top of college football.

“While the outcome was surprising and Ole Miss was clearly the more talented team, it wasn’t shocking,” McShay added. “This is the kind of game they’re going to lose every once in a while.”

Kiffin and the Rebels will look to successfully navigate through the remainder of their schedule and keep their College Football Playoff and SEC Championship hopes alive. That starts this weekend on the road against South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. ET.