‘Have our hands full’: Everything Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin had to say to open Alabama week

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, on Monday, and as he does every week, held court with local media to preview the Rebels’ upcoming opponent. 

This week for the No. 15-ranked Rebels is No. 13 Alabama. Ole Miss is 3-0 on the season after a 48-23 win over Georgia Tech. The Rebels played shorthanded in the game, but they could return some firepower this week, as Kiffin touched on. 

Alabama, meanwhile, is 2-1, and following an uninspiring, 17-3 win over USF, the Crimson Tide is turning back to dual-threat Jalen Milroe at quarterback. Ole Miss, however, is preparing for all three Alabama signal-callers.

“He’s hard to catch, hard to tackle, hard to bring down,” Kiffin said of Milroe. “He can run physically, too, so he’s a big challenge, as you saw early in the season.”

Here’s everything else Kiffin had to say.

ON THE ALABAMA OFFENSE LOOKING DIFFERENT IN COMPARISON TO PREVIOUS SEASONS

“A little bit. I think that’s a little hard to say just because they’re trying to figure out the quarterback. Anytime you’re trying to do that with different quarterbacks, that’s a work in progress. I’m sure they’ll work it out. Previous games don’t mean anything year to year or week to week. You see that in college football all the time. In the NFL, teams play each other twice and the same team doesn’t always win twice. Every week is different. Just because these guys struggled down in a non-conference game and they’re not used to playing in some weather issues means nothing about the way that they play in the SEC at home.”

ON HIS AFFINITY FOR NICK SABAN, WHO PREVIOUSLY BROUGHT KIFFIN ON AS ALABAMA OC

“I think that sometimes with time those things happen, that you continue to be appreciative for the opportunity that he gave. Not only that, people give people opportunities all the time, but also the things that I learned from him defensively. The things I learned from him are organization and discipline. I’m extremely grateful to him and he really helped me at a really challenging time in my life. They kind of say sometimes, ‘You don’t really figure out yourself until you’re torn down and have to rebuild yourself.’ I’m grateful for him being part of that process.”

ON FACING OFF AGAINST SABAN AGAIN

“I don’t think about it that way. Seems like whoever leaves him ends up taking some coach’s position at some point. There’s always kind of intertwined things and we’ll still communicate within the office and stuff. I don’t really overthink that because I don’t make the plays. We’ve got a lot of coaches and players that do that. I don’t really put anything extra into that, just have to prepare for an opponent that’s got great players. I was thinking this morning, [Suntarine] Perkins is probably the only player on our roster they wanted. If you look at it that way, 85 draft picks and we took who they didn’t want. You got to go there and play against that (and) be really well-prepared and get some breaks. You got to really scheme things up just to have a chance.”

ON OLE MISS’ DEFENSIVE STRUGGLES AGAINST GEORGIA TECH

“I thought Georgia Tech did a good job. I could be wrong, but I think they’re going to be good offensively throughout the year. They were number one in the ACC coming in through two weeks. They’re much improved. Their coaching staff has really, schematically, done a good job. They took the Texas A&M quarterback and he looks like a brand-new player. I think they’re going to move the ball on a lot of people, but we’ve got to play better.”

ON THE INJURY TO OLE MISS CB ZAMARI WALTON ON SATURDAY

“I would anticipate him being fine.”

ON PRESSURE ALABAMA IS FACING FOLLOWING A RARE EARLY-SEASON LOSS

“You guys hear me talk about what’s bad is good and what’s good is bad. What you think is one thing can be the other, and sometimes that’s what happens. Sometimes you lose early. I think in my three years there, we only lost at home one time and that was Ole Miss. Sometimes that can kind of humble the team and can reset things. You see that often. People have a loss early, people start discounting them. All of a sudden, they start playing better and fix their issues. Versus, sometimes you don’t play well but you win games and you can push through things that are issues that are going to show up later if you don’t fix.”

ON SABAN WORKING WITH NEW COORDINATORS

“It’s really challenging. We’ve had a lot of turnover here with guys getting different jobs and having to reset structure-wise offense and defense positions. Saban has done it better than anybody over time and really speaks to why he’s the best coach in the history of college football and maybe in all of sports. To be in the time of scholarship limitations, which the old coaches didn’t deal with. I just told you he’s got 85 players we couldn’t get, what if he had 150 like they used to? The staffs now move so much. He’s been able to work through that like no one ever has, that’s why he’s the best. It’s really amazing what he does.”

ON KIFFIN CLAIMING OLE MISS IS PREPARING FOR A TRAVARIS ROBINSON DEFENSE, NOT KEVIN STEELE

“I was asked the question what was it like going against [Kevin] Steele’s defense. I wasn’t really trying to start this big thing. We saw things on the TV copy just where it was different. First off what the play looked like and the calls and stuff. We looked into that further. It’s not a secret that people in these buildings know each other, so we obviously got some information that way too. It is what it is, kind of like the quarterbacks. You prepare for a different quarterback, you prepare for a different playcaller. We’ve got game film of that. I’m not sure whatever transpired after Texas, but we’re going to have our hands full no matter what.”

ON SUPPORT FOR BRADEN WATERMAN AS HE UNDERGOES CANCER TREATMENT

“Things like that put it all in perspective in all of this. Win this game, or this matchup, and all the attention on that. We all get why football and SEC football is so important. Those things when they happen, and for a kid to go through a third time of this at his age is just unspeakable. He’s such an awesome kid. His energy, his positivity. He shows back up here after doing chemotherapy. I mean, he’s just so cool and I just love being around him and talking to our players. They’re down about not having enough plays or they didn’t carry the ball enough or catch the ball enough. Look what he’s going through and fighting through and still here and positive. He’s awesome. I really do love him.”

MORE ON SABAN

“I don’t know. We’ve got so much work to do on this game. I just really respect him so much. I think as you continue to mature, grow, and get older, and as a head coach, you realize how much a head coach has to deal with even though I’d been one before and the issues with players and coaches. To be at the top as long as he was and to be as consistent as he was [is admirable]. We’d have games we’d blow people out. Like Western Kentucky, we’re blowing them out and he’s losing his mind like we’re losing to Auburn or something. That’s just him, and that’s why he’s so good because he’s so consistent.”

ON FINISHING AGAINST ALABAMA THIS TIME AROUND

“No, we haven’t gotten to that. We’re just on day one, and we’ve got a lot of work to do. Maybe later in the week. I think it’s well-documented. We had the ball and a chance to go in and win the game against them but didn’t finish in the red zone. Again, that has nothing to do with this year. Now we’ve got to go to their place which is always tough for everybody.”