Lane Kiffin updates Ole Miss quarterback competition entering spring practice

A quarterback competition is facing Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin in the face, with the program having to move on from Matt Corral. Three players will have the opportunity to be the starter for the 2022 season, with Luke Altmyer, Jaxson Dart, Kinkead Dent competing throughout spring practice.

Kiffin provided an update on the quarterback battle on Monday, talking about his experiences of dealing with them over the past few years. He said going through this process is nothing new for his staff, dating all the way back for the USC Trojans but overall, competition makes everyone on the team better.

“All three guys will have a chance,” Kiffin said. “We’ve been in a lot of these over the years, more than we would like, actually. I think there were six or seven years in a row we had a new starter between the last year at USC, Alabama, and FAU. We’ve been very used to this. We had not had a returning starter really maybe one year of all of that. So we’ve been in this and it can be good because it makes everyone better because there’s competition.”

When asked about when the ideal time for a starter to separate themselves from the rest, Kiffin said as early as possible. Wanting to give the team a good idea as to who their leader is, the head coach wants someone to win the job sooner rather than later.

“Always in these things, it would be best for it to be early from the standpoint of the team and everyone knowing it but we’re never going to rush it,” Kiffin said. “These things have gone forever. We ideally never want it to go into the season where they’re playing. That’s never ideal but that’s even happened once. You got to try to make the right decision and the more time, the more input, the more information — we don’t have preseason games so the more you can get, the better. You need to be patient sometimes.

Dart, a transfer from USC, is likely the favorite to win the job after picking the Rebels over Oklahoma. He threw for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns as a true freshman last season, only appearing in six games. After Lincoln Riley was brought in and before Caleb Williams decided to follow, Dart chose to play for Kiffin.

As for Altmyer and Dent, both were on the roster last season but saw limited playing time. When Corral went down in the Sugar Bowl against the Baylor Bears, Altmyer, a then true freshman, replaced him. Now, he will be competing with Dart and Dent for the full-time starting role for the Ole Miss Rebels.