Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin Reminisces About 'Great Relationship' With Texas' Steve Sarkisian

Head coaches Texas Longhorns' Steve Sarkisian and Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin both served on USC's staff in the early 2000s.

Two of college football's best offensive minds are also the best of friends.

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin will soon be coaching against an old buddy in Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian in 2025 after the Longhorns' move to the Southeastern Conference next year. Kiffin and Sarkisian go way back to the early 2000s when they were both positional coaches at USC.

"I've had a great relationship with Sark," Kiffin said at SEC Media Days Thursday. "I've said before we kind of both grew up fast by being in the USC experience and being part of Coach (Pete) Carroll's staff and all the great players there. I think 34-straight wins. If we can tackle Vince Young, three straight national championships."

The two overlapped in Los Angeles during the 2001-03 and 2005-06 seasons. Sarkisian served as the Trojans' quarterbacks coach, while Kiffin moved up the ladder from tight ends coach to wide receivers coach before becoming the offensive coordinator.

Kiffin said the experience at USC "was really cool" to experience with Sarkisian and that they've "always stayed close."

The Rebels head coach said Sarkisian is doing "awesome" at Texas.

"The way he's flipped the roster and recruiting at such a high level and signing Arch," Kiffin said. "The future is extremely bright for Texas football."

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You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419

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