Lane Kiffin shares key to successfully welcoming in transfer quarterbacks

Lane Kiffin has a trio of quarterbacks to work with and pick from at the moment at Ole Miss. However, all three arrived in Oxford the same way and, in turn, are getting the same treatment from him on the field.

Kiffin explained how he is getting Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard acclimated, alongside Jaxson Dart, while at SEC Media Days. He recalled how that process went with Dart last year and how that could look similar for each of them heading into fall camp.

“Well, I think, with Jaxson in the first couple of games, getting his feet wet? Again, we just do whatever it takes to win,” said Kiffin. “We were running the ball great. Early on, we were going to play really good defense, I thought, versus our opponents that we were playing. So we kind of took the ball out of his hands to make sure we were winning the games.

“I think that quarterbacks? Bringing them in, letting them experience things on their own at first, and then kind of feel them out, see how they are. And then kind of get more involved one on one with them,” Kiffin explained. “That’s just kind of the way I’ve kind of done it.

Sanders doesn’t need any help on the experience front. Over four seasons at Oklahoma State, he threw 765 completions, for a 61.3% percentage, to record 9,500 passing yards and 67 touchdowns. He also rushed for nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. His only acclimation has to do with his own acclimation to his new home and locker room in Ole Miss.

With Howard, though, it’s a different case as he’s at the opposite end of that spectrum. He appeared in only two games at LSU and threw four passes as a former Top-10 quarterback and four-star prospect in 2022.

Still, as Kiffin continues to search for his QB1, he’s going to continue to work with them all the same. In doing so, he’ll hope to see their true starter emerge, regardless of which of the three it is or how much experience they have under their belt.

Kiffin jokingly thanks Finebaum for ‘pissing off’ Nick Saban

Much of the conversation at this year’s SEC Media Days has centered on juggernaut Alabama and whether the Crimson Tide dynasty is over as we know it. Even so, Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin just rolls his eyes when he hears that talk.

He has seen this song and dance before. He even blamed a friendly face in the media for tossing Nick Saban and Alabama a bone.

“It’s why we have Finebaum, so he can motivate him every other year and say, ‘Oh, his dynasty’s over and this is the end of Saban’. And we’re like, ‘Hey, thanks a lot, you pissed him off,’” Kiffin said. “And Paul’s always wrong on this. He just did it again the other day. ‘He didn’t make the playoffs, he’s not any good as a coach.’ Thanks, Paul.”