Last year’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs continues to both haunt and help the Ole Miss Rebels.
Ole Miss was demolished last season in Athens to the tune of a 52-17 final score, and even though the Rebels finished with their first-ever 11-win season in 2023, that loss showed massive flaws in the roster makeup of Lane Kiffin’s team.
The 2023 roster was a good one…but it was not an elite one, and that was the focus this offseason. Kiffin was made available to the media following another installment of spring practice on Tuesday, and when asked about his early impressions on the new transfer and prep pieces on his team, he didn’t go into great detail.
“I don’t care who plays, where they’re from, what year,” Kiffin said. “We’re going to play the best players. We feel really good when we win and feel really bad when we lose. We’re never going to play somebody because they were recruited here, or [have] this many years, or [are] from whatever state.
“I say that because I think [the players] know that, and I think that’s part of why they come here. Also, I reminded them how much we despise losing and that feeling of Georgia, we tried to teach our players that things happen for a reason. There’s always good in the bad, and the good that came out of that game, that feeling that … we’ve got to recruit better.”
Kiffin noticed some of the bigger talent deficiencies in last year’s loss in the trenches, so the focus this offseason has been (and may continue to be) bolstering those positions up front.
