Lane Kiffin reveals how transfers have changed timeline of preseason

The transfer portal has shaken up how coaches manage their rosters. Instead of having seniors move on and freshmen come in to be developed, transfers can come and go at any stage of their careers. Lane Kiffin has embraced using the transfer portal at Ole Miss. However, he’s now finding that transfers are changing the preseason timeline.

“The variables being all the new guys,” Lane Kiffin said. “So, probably not where we’d want to be normally. But, you have to take that into consideration because, again, your new guys usually are at the bottom. You know, you’ve got a lot of new guys that have played a lot, and (we) expect them to play and that’s why they’re here. So, that’s a work in progress.”

Lane Kiffin expects those transfers to play. This means that they need to get them to mesh and understand what Ole Miss is trying to do.

“You can look out there and see, easily, half the guys out there going against each other are (transfer) portal guys. I mean, I thought about it on a play today. That guy was just playing for Auburn covering a guy that just played for Mississippi State. So, it’s just the world we’re in,” Lane Kiffin explained.

The problem is that freshmen typically get a season or two to develop and adjust to the program before they start playing meaningful snaps. These transfers need to play immediately, so they have less time to make that adjustment.

Lane Kiffin is also managing a quarterback competition

Along with getting the transfer players ready, Lane Kiffin needs to choose a starting quarterback before the season. Right now, there are two options. USC transfer Jaxson Dart came to the program this offseason. Meanwhile, Luke Altmyer came to Ole Miss as a freshman in the Class of 2021.

Right now, according to Lane Kiffin, the two quarterbacks have been a bit of a mixed bag.

“I know I sound like a broken record but they do some things really well and at times, they look young again,” Lane Kiffin said. “Everything in life is about what you just saw. Not trying to say I am smarter than other people but you take for granted what you have for life in all areas sometimes.”

“I kept telling our guys last year, ‘guys, these throws. Ain’t too many people making these throws.’ You’re used to every throw in there and not just miss. Takes some getting used to having a new quarterback and losing a veteran that was an elite arm talent.”