Lane Kiffin updates Ole Miss fall camp, shares progress of Rebels in practice

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media on Wednesday as Ole Miss Football rolls on in fall camp. Here’s everything he had to say after practice with the Rebels.

Kiffin Opening Statement: “I think guys are doing really well. Excited about this team. There’s a lot of new pieces, a lot of different things to look at, schemes with different players. So, obviously we lost a lot of players, but at the same time we added a lot. So kind of very different as I said the other day to our staff, the days before where we used to almost be able to figure out how good a team was based off their returning starters. You say, ‘okay, these guys have a lot coming back. They’re gonna be good. These guys don’t.’ 

“Really (it) is completely different because a lot of times you’re getting starters from other teams in the portal, so I know on paper that wouldn’t look very good with four returning starters (for Ole Miss), but doesn’t feel like that at all out there. I think that we got a lot of good depth at spots and a lot of players challenging each other and it’s been really good.”

On Ole Miss QBs Trinidad Chambliss and AJ Maddox: “I think both guys have done a really good job. It’s a lot of offense on someone new like Trinidad. AJ’s really progressed mentally while he was out and both those guys are really good, which I think is very critical your depth in that room even past three because that’s how we look to actually fix that and work on that this offseason. So, your drills are thrown better, your service teams are running better. Even your 1-on-1s and routes out on air, so that’s something that we tried to look at and try to improve from one to six.”

On what Kiffin sees in differences between summer and fall practices: “Well, now there wasn’t a lot different initially, but now with pads, it becomes different and different drill work with that. You see players show up a little bit different, too, as they say when you’re not in underwear. Then as we get to scrimmages we’ll learn more, but that’s really the big difference, the physical part of it. I think part of probably why I feel good about this team right now is because there were so many practices compared to the old days in the offseason. So mentally, even with all these new players, they seem to know the systems really well and be ahead of that where you would have been back before all the ability to do all this offseason work.”

On if he’s seen more from the Ole Miss secondary: “Yeah, that’s been really big for us, obviously, to get that group better, but that makes us better on the other side. In spring, I felt that was an issue. We were challenged a lot with secondary issues, and some guys were hurt. So it’s much better now, deeper, more competition, and it’s in a really good spot.”

On the depth at wide receiver room and how Kiffin & Co. added so much: “Lot of guys are obviously motivated by the NFL and the draft. We talked to them a lot. You can have missed some starts or be a part-time starter and they don’t care when they go to draft you. Look at where Jordan (Watkins) went after at one point not even starting early in the year. We just tell guys, ‘hey, it’s going to take care of itself.’ We play a lot of snaps. When the system is at its best, you do have receiver depth. I think coaches say this stuff all the time, but I do think and have looked at every year we’ve been here, this is the deepest receiver group that would allow us, if we stay healthy, to truly rotate like you should in this system and be better in the fourth quarter of games. I don’t have it in front of me, but I want to say the first quarter of games was something like 31 points to 10, if I’m right, you know? Sometimes in the fourth quarter, we were way ahead in a lot of the games, but that receiver depth allows you to play better in the fourth quarter.”

On evaluating the Ole Miss offensive line: “Yeah, guys are doing a good job. Kutas out allows other guys to perform in there, and so that’s been good. We’ve moved some guys around to look at different rotations, different spots, so I think it’s in a good place, but, you know, that group needs to play together more than other groups and needs scrimmages because of the cohesiveness of the O-line.”

On Ole Miss WR Deuce Alexander: “Deuce has had a great camp. He’s looked electric, dynamic, what we’d seen on film. They didn’t throw him a ball very much, but we could see on film a guy that, if we had him, how much we’d want to give him the ball. He’s got great work ethic and in phenomenal condition. Really, those top receivers are in great shape mentally and physically, both. So we’ve actually backed off of them a little bit from prevention of injuries.”

On Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carnerio: “Good, doing a really good job. That was really important for us. We’ll know more when the games comes, but doing really well.”

On Washington State DB Kapena Gushiken: “He’s really versatile, can play a bunch of spots. A really savvy player. Hoping he could be Trey Washington-ish for us. Really smart. So, really good to have him.”

The next media availability to see Kiffin and the Rebels will be on Friday as Ole Miss gets back to the practice field.