Pac-12 coach on Jaxson Dart: He was going to be the most talented player in the conference

After entering the transfer portal, Jaxson Dart will try to make a major impact at Ole Miss. But a former rival coach thinks he could’ve done something similar at USC.

An unnamed Pac-12 defensive coordinator spoke with ESPN’s Pete Thamel this week and shared some high praise for Dart, saying he could’ve been among the best in the conference if he stayed.

“He was the most talented quarterback we played against last year,” the defensive coordinator told Thamel. “He was inexperienced, but he threw the ball well and he had enough movement. Projecting him moving forward, he was going to be the most talented guy in the conference.”

Of course, USC landed another quarterback via the portal, bringing in former Oklahoma star Caleb Williams, who followed coach Lincoln Riley to Los Angeles. Williams was the No. 1 transfer to hit the portal, according to the 2021 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, while Dart came in at No. 10.

As a freshman last year at USC, Dart played in six games, totaling 1,353 passing yards and nine touchdowns. He joined the Trojans as a four-star recruit and the No. 45 player in the nation from the class of 2021, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Dart will play a huge role at Ole Miss as the program tries to replace Matt Corral, who became a third-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft. He’s currently competing with Luke Altmyer to be the new starter in Oxford, and Rebels coach Lane Kiffin made it clear he’s solely looking at the current product. He’s not thinking about what happened in the past.

“That would have absolutely nothing with how we play players here,” Kiffin said. “We’ve got tons of examples over time. We don’t care how many stars you are or where you’re from. Whether you’re from the state or whether you’re not. When I got here, I was dumb for playing the other quarterback. We don’t look at anything that way. Doesn’t matter where he came from or whether he played or how many stars he is. It will have nothing to do with if he plays but fair question.”