Lane Kiffin says Ole Miss showed well with star-studded group of visitors for LSU game
Ole Miss, on Saturday, welcomed its largest collection of recruits to campus since at least 2016.
Three were official visitors: Creekside (Fla.) High School offensive lineman Matthew McCoy, Syracuse transfer wide receiver Taj Harris and Opelika (Ala.) High School cornerback and Ole Miss commitment Jarell Stinson.
But the list didn’t stop there. Far from it.
Ole Miss had north of 30 prospects in attendance for the showdown with rival LSU, a game the Rebels easily won, 31-17. They’re now 6-1 (3-1) on the season and next travel to Auburn Oct. 30 for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff on ESPN.
“I don’t notice very much in the game with (recruits), good or bad,” second-year head coach Lane Kiffin said. “It was good to meet with some of them afterwards and hear their reaction. You could just see it on their face and how they talked about, ‘Wow, what an awesome game. The crowd was awesome. I really could see myself playing here.’ That was really good.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be. We need to keep doing that and having atmospheres like that, just like we need to keep making sacks and making touchdowns. It all goes hand-in-hand. We have a very high expectation here. Like someone said this morning, (we’re) bowl eligible. I didn’t even realize that. That’s not the way we think. Honestly, trying to change the way a lot of people think. We’ll see if we can get there.”
The star-studded unofficial visitors included quarterback Arch Manning. Manning is the No. 1 overall player for 2023 and the nephew of all-time Ole Miss great Eli, who the school honored during the game in retiring his No. 10 jersey.
“Great day for Ole Miss,” his father, Cooper, the former Ole Miss wide receiver, said simply, in a text exchange with The Ole Miss Spirit regarding Arch’s visit.
Arch Manning was joined by, among others, five-star wide receiver Barion Brown (2022), long-time Alabama defensive tackle commitment and No. 127 overall recruit Jaheim Oatis, former Penn State commitment Jordan Allen (cornerback) and priority in-state targets Stone Blanton (linebacker) and Trevion Williams (defensive end).
“To see Ole Miss dominate LSU was really fun,” Blanton said following his visit, in an exclusive interview with The Ole Miss Spirit. “The atmosphere was great. The fans really showed out. The facilities are awesome and they are even planning renovations real soon, so they will be even better.”
“Crowd was awesome,” Kiffin said Saturday. “They were here early. Phenomenal energy. I thought our players fed off of it. It was cool. I don’t see it the whole game, obviously, but I glanced up before kickoff and it was full. Seemed like there was a presence on third down. It was awesome to see. That’s how it should be. The game was kind of a little bit dead at some point, slow-moving, but I thought the fans were really good.”
