Jaxson Dart has arrived at Ole Miss but quarterback battle still "a very open competition"
When Jaxson Dart made it social media official on Sunday and announced his announced his decision to transfer to Ole Miss, it seemed the starting quarterback spot had also been settled.
A player of Dart’s abilities, a consensus four-start prospect, who chooses to leave Southern California and new head coach Lincoln Riley’s system for Kiffin and new co-offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, Jr.’s system would only do so if the starting spot was seemingly his to lose.
It may be, but Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin made sure to pump the breaks a little on anointing the starting spot on the first day of February. Kiffin met with local and national media via Zoom on Tuesday to discuss the February signing, and transfer, class.
Dart is not coming into the locker room on the first day of spring practice and just taking Matt Corral’s place, though he is going to wear No. 2, and usurp rising sophomore Luke Altmyer from the throne, according to Kiffin.
“This is a very open competition,” Kiffin said. “Just because the social media world and pictures and tweeting and all the stuff that (we) now do that helps in recruiting and helps with other kids seeing it for classes to come … it’s marketing. That’s why we do it.”
Social media posts, such as graphics in the jersey of a school fans want to see a player transfer to are common in the new-age recruiting world.
Kiffin has seemingly mastered the art of recruiting via social media and raised the ante with photos of recruits on visits sitting in or posing next to luxury cars.
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The hype only grew as those posts by Kiffin, and by Dart, continued.
“That doesn’t mean, OK, Jaxson Dart’s the quarterback and Luke’s not,” Kiffin said. “That’s just the marketing world that we’re in of the use of social media, and especially Twitter. We’re just trying to add players to positions —either where we didn’t recruit well at positions years ago here or where people have left or gone early to the draft. There’s a lot of reasons why you add certain things.”
When the Rebels open up spring camp, all eyes will be on Dart and Altmyer. Kiffin also made sure to include rising junior Kinkead Dent in the mix as well, though Dent never saw the field this past season with Altmyer slotted behind Corral.
It may not have been a fair shake given the circumstances, but Altmyer got his first audition as the next starting quarterback during the Sugar Bowl last month. Corral went down with a sprained ankle in the first quarter, leaving it to Altmyer.
In his first season, Altmyer played in five games and finished with 192 passing yards and a touchdown.
