Lane Kiffin evaluates Ole Miss special teams

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin brought in Jake Schoonover this offseason to be in charge of the Rebels special teams unit. Schoonover was hired away from Arkansas State after one successful season leading the Red Wolves special teams.

Kiffin has been impressed with what Schoonover has brought to the Ole Miss program so far. He feels good about the direction the unit is heading.

“Jake’s come in and done a really good job with the guys. We do so much drill work until we get really late towards the game, that it’s hard to see it all come together from that standpoint.”

As Kiffin said, you won’t really know until closer to game day how well everything has progressed, but he does believe the kicking game and return game is headed in the right direction.

The Rebels must replace their starting place kicker from last season in Jonathan Cruz, who was 15 of 17 on field goals in 2022.

However, punter Fraser Masin is back after averaging better than 42 yards per punt last season.

Leading punt returner Jordan Watkins and leading kick returner Dayton Wade are also back from 2022, but it appears as though those battles are still being sorted out.

“I’m excited about it and excited about our kicking game, competition at kicker and return game,” Kiffin said.

Texas A&M transfer Caden Davis is competing for the starting place kicker job, as is sophomore Caden Costa.

Lane Kiffin details John Garrison’s impact on Ole Miss coaching staff

Another addition to the Ole Miss coaching staff this offseason was offensive line coach John Garrison.

Kiffin recently spoke about Garrison and what impact he has had on the program.

“John is a really great offensive line coach and person and spends a ton of time with them,” Kiffin said. “I’ve known him for years. My brother actually worked with him a long time ago at Nebraska. I had him at FAU for a year before we lost him there.

“I’ve tried multiple times to get him here and wasn’t able to. So, I’m excited about how much our guys have improved up there and you’re going to see some different names playing on Saturdays, too, as a result of that.”

Garrison came to Ole Miss from NC State. He has done an excellent job of developing NFL talent throughout his career. That includes former Wolfpack offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu, who was the first offensive player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft.