Notice Ole Miss went heavy on SEC defensive players in the portal? Lane Kiffin had a strategy

When Lane Kiffin was standing on the field inside Sanford Stadium he noticed one specific thing during warm ups. Georgia had the look of a top college football program and Ole Miss did not, in Kiffin’s eyes.

That translated into a 52-17 defeat, the Rebels second and last loss of the regular season. In the post game press conference Kiffin acknowledged where things stood and replied bluntly to a question that he has to coach better but more to the point he and his staff have to recruit better.

From the looks of the first transfer portal window since those remarks Kiffin has done so and on a mission to improve the Ole Miss defense from an aesthetic and physical standpoint.

Not did Kiffin just go get top level players out of the transfer portal but he stayed inside the Southeastern Conference to do so. As of December 21 Ole Miss has seven new players on defense coming in from the transfer portal and all but one coming from SEC teams.

That number could jump up to eight in a big way if Kiffin gets the commitment from Texas A&M defensive lineman Walter Nolen, the top-rated player still in the portal.

But Kiffin was not bringing players of other SEC teams to Oxford solely for the troll job he can do with his social media accounts. There was a method to his madness, so to speak, and it all started the night of November 11.

“This really started in Athens, Georgia and I think you guys sensed my disappointment after that game and the way that I coached,” Kiffin said during his NSD press conference on Wednesday. “But just some other things and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do everything in our power to change the way that we look as a team, but especially defensively.’ We might not be very good but we’re going to look a lot better in our uniforms.”

Those six new additions that are going to help Ole Miss look “better” are Mississippi State cornerback Decamerion Richardson, Arkansas linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr., Florida EDGE Princely Umanmielen, Tennessee safety Tamarion McDonald and EDGE Tyler Baron plus Oklahoma safety Key Lawrence.

The Sooners are SEC bound in less than seven months, so might as well include Lawrence in the group.

While Kiffin also wanted his defense look the part during warm ups he also wanted Ole Miss to improve its physical presence.

Bigger, faster, stronger is a cliche only because it is an accurate philosophy for sports. Ole Miss needed to add length to its defense after lining up against some of the top SEC offenses and Kiffin noticed size discrepancies.

In the secondary Richardson is bringing his 6-foot-2 frame to Ole Miss as is McDonald. Lawrence joins them coming in at 6-foot-1. The stature might not be there fully in the Rebels defensive backfield but the first and second levels add some size.

Umanmielen’s 6-foot-4, 250-pound body is poised to be a dominant threat on the outside of Randall Joyner’s defensive line along with Baron’s 6-foot-5 frame of the same weight there is a bookend of size for Ole Miss next season to go with Jared Ivey’s 6-foot-5, 265-pound stature.

“A lot of that was signing players that are already significant players in the SEC. That we’ve seen play against these team,” Kiffin said. “I kind of joke with you guys sometimes (saying), ‘Warm ups don’t look very good that night.’ That’s nothing against our players and how hard they play. A lot of that is just size and that’s not a secret. We have not been a very big team, especially defensively. We’re a very short team. I love our players, I love how hard they play but length matters sometimes. That’s why the (NFL) draft is the way that it is. We definitely have improved overall with significant players on offense but really on defense.”

If Ole Miss can land Nolen then he will bring his 6-foot-4, 345-pound frame to and already stacked defensive front next fall.