Is Lane Kiffin Among Top SEC Coaches? CFB Analyst Cites 'Remarkable Job' at Ole Miss

Is Lane Kiffin one of the top coaches in the Southeastern Conference entering the 2024 season?

Dec 30, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin prepares for a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Ole Miss Rebels may have their eye on a College Football Playoff run this season, but they wouldn't be in this position without the work done by Lane Kiffin since he arrived as the team's head coach prior to the 2020 season.

Kiffin came to Oxford as the Rebels were on the heels of an NCAA investigation fallout. Having just come off probation, Ole Miss had not reached a bowl game since the 2015 season under Hugh Freeze, and Kiffin was hired with the hopes of orchestrating a creative approach to return the Rebels to national relevance.

Now with two New Year's Six bowl appearances under his belt, Kiffin has quickly made his mark at Ole Miss. That was the focus for analyst Michael Bratton on an edition of "That SEC Podcast" where he posed the question: is Lane Kiffin now the league's second-best head coach?

Since Lane Kiffin's arrival in Oxford, only Georgia & Alabama have better SEC records than Ole Miss.

Is Kiffin the SEC's 2nd-best coach?

Ole Miss season preview: https://t.co/uxlBkKFQxL pic.twitter.com/Q3Qv9WvlRF

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) June 21, 2024

"This goes under the radar. I don't think people realize this," Bratton said. "There's three teams at the top of the SEC standings in wins: obviously Georgia, obviously Alabama, but No. 3 is the Ole Miss Rebels. I don't think enough people understand that.

"It's remarkable the job Lane Kiffin's done. Again, this could be his best job ever....This is a coach, there's not many, that get these big-time jobs, struggle, get another chance, and turn out to be better than they were before. That's exactly where Lane Kiffin is."

This is, of course, entering the 2024 season. Narratives around head coaches (especially in the SEC) can change overnight, and those who were once beloved in their towns become vilified because of a lack of wins.

That puts some pressure on the Rebels this fall. It's obvious that Ole Miss has gone all-in this offseason in an effort to reach the College Football Playoff, hauling in the No. 3 transfer portal class in the country (per On3) to go with a healthy stable of returning talent.

If the Rebels don't meet expectations this season, this narrative around Kiffin might change, but such is life in the SEC. For now, he's highly regarded.

"Georgia, Alabama, LSU, these are the teams that have owned the sport, at least in the SEC, the last 10 or so years," Bratton said, "but Ole Miss has not been there. So they found a creative way to get there, and it's all about this season. Otherwise, this may be the last team that goes all-in the portal, if they don't get it done."