No. 7 Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin held his regularly scheduled Monday press conference to talk about last Saturday’s win against South Carolina, as well as preview the upcoming game against The Citadel this week.
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Here’s everything Kiffin said in the press conference:
Opening statement…
“All right, you know, we got a big challenge issued this morning to, you know, get better this week. I thought, you know, we’ve gotten better in some areas the last couple of weeks. So we talked about really focusing on ourselves with walk through today and then two really physical practices the next two days to improve. We got a lot to work on. Gave up, you know, explosive play and a couple other passes that they missed that were open. And we had a really poor day in the red zone and third down. So plenty to work on. (South Carolina is) a very disciplined team that they make you be really accountable on defense with unusual system that we’re not used to. So, you know, really trying to focus on really getting better and improving and maybe looking at different ideas too.”
On Jayden Williams and Kam Franklin’s SEC weekly awards…
“I think that that’s exciting. He just said that walking in that that happened. I think because those guys deserve it. You know, we made a big emphasis all week about, you know, playing physical, winning the line of scrimmages in this game. And Kam did a really good job. And Jayden had a really hard matchup. That’s one of the premier players in college football. You know, a lot of times those guys usually play on your left side. They play them on your right side. So he had a big challenge and really answered the call and really played a great game. So that was great to see those guys be recognized for that.”
On Kewan Lacy…
“I think we knew, maybe not to this extent, the speed, the size ratio. But also you can’t predict how guys are going to improve or plateau. A lot of that is once they get there, how they work and he’s phenomenal in preparation. He’s in here all the time. Very low ego, which is refreshing at that position. He just wants to get better. He’s had a great year and needs to take care of the ball. The ball was a little loose, almost came out. But he’s doing a great job and really doing a great job in pass pro being, pass protection being very physical.”
On any fallout from throwing a football into the stands…
“(SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey) did not bring that up. So I don’t think that’s a policy or rule. But again, I was excited for our fans, for our student section, that they were there early, two hours before. And it just means a lot to our players. And to see that in their energy and their standing the whole time. You know, because when we watch our film, we watch end zone view. So we see the end zones all day long as we’re, you know, watching the game film. And they’re amazing. And so, you know, I know as a penalty, those guys going and jumping. But it was just really cool. I think that, you know, our team is a really neat team. It’s why I say, I would hope the games would sell out, people would show up. Because I understand sometimes teams aren’t that exciting to watch. I think we’re really exciting. And I think our players play with a lot of passion. And so it’s pretty neat.”
On The Citadel…
“Really disciplined team. Defensively, they’re multiple, do different things. Offensively, they really present challenge of, you know, your keys in the run game. And they do a really good job.”
On why Rebels are (relatively) healthy…
“Well, I think you guys, you know, I don’t come up here and just say, yeah, we do this well. Because coaches want to sound good. I don’t think that has to do with offseason. I do think part of that is luck. With injuries in each year, it just happens. Sometimes you have better years, just like you have calls from the refs. Sometimes they go their way, sometimes they don’t. I do think we, in general, stay pretty healthy. I think people would be really surprised. I’m not going to go into detail, but people would be really surprised how much we actually practice, how little we practice compared to a lot of traditional college programs.
“Yeah, I think that’s just a lot of things combined in there. You know, like I said, I take a lot from Coach Saban. I don’t take that, but that doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong. I just see things differently. But, you know, there’s probably something in there too. I think when, like how I tell you guys all the time, I really believe all the things that happen to you happen for a reason if you’re paying attention. And I think going to FAU, you couldn’t practice. If you did, you were going to run out of your good players fast. So that’s really where I started this. Okay, we’re just going to play really fast, but we’re not going to practice near as much just for the wear and tear on the players. And so that’s probably where I really started that direction.
“And then getting here, again, like I’m with you guys, in honesty, when we got here, didn’t feel like we had a lot of great players. And so if you get them hurt, you’re going to go here to here. You know, that’s easier to do at Alabama, you can afford some injuries. So that’s part of it too.”
On having one more night game against Florida…
“I think that’s great. That’s awesome to have another Saturday night in the stadium here. I think coaches a lot of times are whiny, you know, we’re whiny and we complain about things, but then when they go the direction that we do like, they don’t say anything. They just want to complain so everybody can, you know, point to that. But we had a, I mean, I sent the commissioner in that conversation and send a message, you know, because I’m on a fishing trip or something for this year. You know, four road games, none at night, three of the four at home this year. So I think that’s awesome. I think, you know, our analytics we go off of is after COVID because you didn’t have crowd noise then and stuff. I think it’s 61% of SEC night games are won by the home team. So that’s why I’m kind of always hoping for that. So I think that’s a really good slot. Again, it’ll be about how well you play, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be really warm. So as much as I don’t like that, it probably favors us versus the opponent’s players and what they want to play in.”
On South Carolina’s second touchdown…
“I can see why you wouldn’t know because he was that open. That was really disappointing. We were in drop eight, cover two, which should be a dead play in that. And really unfortunate. He was in the slot, which usually means a shot play. And we were yelling and they didn’t hear us. So that’s really unfortunate. That should really be a dead play. And that’s why I was really upset with it because great throw, great catch, but we handed them that by just not staying deep where you’re supposed to be in the middle of the field.
“Probably it was obvious if you go back and look. We just couldn’t because our coaches know a lot of the plays in the press box and he says them and I’m like, well, okay, that’s great. You’re telling me what the play is in the coaches box, but they don’t know out there, the players. So I just said, kind of like maybe in high school or little league, you know, little kids, I said, ‘hey, when you know it’s a shot, let’s just all start pointing up and everybody back up.’ And so I know this is a complicated profession in the SEC coaching, but we just pointed up and our guys backed up.”
On tomorrow’s initial CFP rankings…
“I really hadn’t thought much about that. This isn’t coach speak, I don’t, I really don’t, you know, because it’s still so early and so much left to play. I hadn’t thought about that, but probably that would be the part I’d look less about where we are at and more of that just to see, okay, are they actually going to pay as much attention that we were told they are going to now? And that was part of our going to nine games in the SEC was, you know, being told that this was changing and it was going to matter who you played and where you played and the environments and how hard the games are. So, you know, we’ll see.
“So that doesn’t, that’s really, would be really disappointing. And I know I’m in the SEC, but I mean, just as a college football like person, you know, if that’s, that doesn’t matter. Now we’re going to go to at nine, you know, that that would be really unfortunate.”
On hopes for the CFP committee’s criteria…
“I just hope they get over the way that we’ve thought in football for so long, how they’ve thought. Because the other sports think this way, you know, the baseball, you know, they don’t say this many from this conference. And then all of a sudden you’re going to the, whatever the post season in college baseball and you see half the teams are in the SEC, you know? So, you know, in the college world series. So that’s how our sports should be too. And I’m not saying that just because the SEC, there might be years that that’s the big 10, maybe. But it shouldn’t be based off of it. I don’t think there should be any automatics at all. If you figure out who the best team is, if you can’t figure it out, ask Vegas. They know. I’ve said it before, what would they make if it’s you two against each other, these two teams put you on a neutral site and ask Vegas what the spread would be. And that would be who’s considered the better team.”
On impact of conference title games on the committee’s criteria…
“We got a long ways to go. If somehow we were part of that and we were playing the SEC championship. That would be amazing for a program that’s never been in it. You know, I think of that, you know, we’ve never finished first when there used to be six on one side, you know, at Ole Miss.”
On the hindrance of a title game…
“Oh, I thought you meant just whether you want to play because of the injury part, you know, because I’ve said that a year ago. Like, hey, there’s some concerns that you’ve got to play an extra game. And then you’ve got the playoffs after that. And then you look at a team that played and lost their quarterback. So there’s a lot to that. But it’d be exciting to be in as well. But there’s issues with that also.”
