Lane Kiffin assesses the value of Ulysses Bentley's return

Running back Ulysses Bentley is coming back to Ole Miss after missing time in 2022 with an injury. This could provide a huge boost for the Rebels, giving Lane Kiffin and his offense multiple reliable options out of the backfield.

While speaking to the media during spring ball, Kiffin gave his thoughts on how Bentley can help Ole Miss going forward.

“Yeah, Bentley’s had a great camp so far, spring, whatever you call it,” Lane Kiffin said. “And I do think that his injury set him back during the season, which it would anybody, missing all that time because he didn’t have any opportunities. We played the other two guys a lot.”

Prior to Ole Miss, Ulysses Bentley was an incredibly productive player at SMU. He transferred in and was only able to play in six games. In that limited time, he saw his production and averages drop as he battled through injuries and Quinshon Judkins burst onto the scene.

“And, prior to his injury, we talk about analytics, his analytics about first downs and touchdowns per carry were extremely good and he was getting ready to have a great year.”

Lane Kiffin on criticism after rebuffing Auburn

At the end of the 2022 season and early into the offseason, Lane Kiffin found himself in a saga with Auburn. For a while, it seemed like he would take the program’s open head coaching job before he backed off and decided to stay at Ole Miss. This situation led to a lot of criticism for Kiffin.

“We screw up all the time. But when you think you’re doing the right thing and then you’re really criticized for it — especially by your own people — I struggled with that because I feel like I went through a decision-making process that you’re supposed to go through. I mean, you got to decide. It’s your life and your family’s life,” Kiffin said.

“I felt that it would have been a distraction to make this big statement 24 hours before the game and making it about me. So, I thought I was doing the right thing by saying, ‘OK, I’m going to avoid making this about me, you guys go play. But just so you know, you don’t have to sit here and worry that your coach is leaving tomorrow after the game or something. I’m staying, I just haven’t made it known publicly.’ I told them thinking that’s what obviously matters the most, and because we lost it wasn’t done right. If we won, nobody would’ve cared.”