Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin High on 'Elite' Texas Roster Entering SEC

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is familiar with Steve Sarkisian, and thinks he has built an elite roster in the Forty Acres.

Jul 15, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

From 2001 to 2006, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin worked together at USC, in 2016, they met again at Alabama.

Sarkisian returned to Tuscaloosa in 2019, where he stayed for a year. At that time, Kiffin had taken a head coach job at Florida Atlantic and started his work back in the SEC at Ole Miss in 2020.

Now, it's time for Sarkisian to go back to the SEC.

And though Texas and Ole Miss won't be facing each other in 2024, Kiffin had some words to say about his former colleague and the team he is bringing to the conference.

Mar 31, 2005; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin (left) and quaterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian during spring football practice at Howard Jones Field on the campus of the University of Southern California. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

"I think they're one of the elite rosters in America," Kiffin said. "Sark would know well what the challenge is. It's not like he's coming in with a team into the SEC with a coach that hasn't been. I think he understands that. That conference was competitive, too, so he had tough games there and tough places to play on the road there."

In 2023, Kiffin's Mississippi had a 6-2 record in conference play, only losing to Georgia and that same Alabama team Sarkisian's Texas took down at Bryant-Denny.

Texas had a successful season in its last run in the Big 12, tallying only one conference loss against Oklahoma and a College Football Playoff semifinal elimination to Washington. But that doesn't equal SEC dominance.

"This is just different," Kiffin said. "The SEC is really challenging. Study road records and study road records at night in the SEC. Why do those percentages change? They change because there are really good players at really hard places to play with electric atmospheres that are challenging to play in."

Despite doubts, Texas goes into the 2024 season as the top-ranked SEC team at No. 3, ahead of No. 4 Alabama. After years of "what ifs," in 10 weeks, the Longhorns will finally show what they can do.