Anonymous SEC Coach Criticizes Lane Kiffin, 'One-Sided' Ole Miss Rebels

An anonymous SEC coach is not confident in Lane Kiffin's coaching style entering the 2023 season.

OXFORD, Miss. -- Since he was hired in December of 2019, Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin has found his fair share of success in the ultra-competitive SEC West. Kiffin has coached the Rebels to three straight bowl games and the program's first-ever 10-win regular season in 2021.

The Rebels, however, stumbled down the stretch in 2022 and finished the year with an 8-5 record after starting 7-0, which has led to criticism of Kiffin's coaching style. While there is no doubt Kiffin can field one of the top offenses in college football, his defense has not produced similar results. 

Under Kiffin, Ole Miss has registered three top-five offenses in the SEC while the defense has struggled to hang in the top 10 since the unit allowed 38.3 points per game in 2020.

An anonymous SEC coach recently called out Kiffin's lack of balance when it comes to managing his roster in an interview with Athlon Sports, citing that Ole Miss is too 'one-sided.'

"This is a one-sided football team that will have to create turnovers on defense to stay in games against top-level teams," the coach told Athlon Sports. "[New defensive coordinator Pete] Golding is going to create a good defense eventually. But not this year.”

Kiffin made arguably his biggest acquisition of the offseason in January when Ole Miss hired Pete Golding to be the team's new defensive coordinator, but expecting an Alabama-level defense immediately this fall would be foolish, as Golding needs time to implement his scheme and recruit players who can succeed in said scheme. 

The anonymous coach also alluded to the fact that the way Kiffin runs his offense could lead to potential disagreements between the two coaches down the road. 

"[Golding's] gonna learn there’s no balance with Lane," the coach said. "It’s not like Tuscaloosa. You’re going to be stressed to keep up with short scoring drives and quick changes of possession.”

Kiffin has a history of putting his defense in less-than-ideal situations due to his affinity to go for it on fourth down regardless of field positioning. 

It will take time for Golding to field a defense that can compete with the top teams in the SEC, but he is already leaving his mark on the recruitment trail as the Rebels had a surge in 2024 defensive commitments in June. Out of the current 17 commits in Ole Miss' 2024 class, 10 of those prospects are slated to take snaps on defense.

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You can follow Ben King on Twitter at @BKing_2023.

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