Kiffin on the Third Week of Camp

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin met with the media on Tuesday after practice as the team is in their third week of camp.

This week, school started back at Ole Miss with the players balancing school and practice.

“We are in school, as you guys know, so it’s a little bit more normal format as far as us having the kids in the morning, afternoon and night with schoolwork,” Kiffin said. “One of the things about when your school starts this early, at other places you have to get into that sooner and the distractions that come with that. That’s a challenge outside of the X’s and O’s that always comes, especially this week.”

This past Saturday, the Rebels had their second scrimmage of camp to prepare for the upcoming season.

“I thought quarterback play was really, really strong Saturday. I thought the week before the defense in general had a really good Saturday,” Kiffin said. “I thought this Saturday the offense did with the pass scheme and running game. There were many more points and yards with the average per carry. I thought the quarterbacks did some really good things. Two older guys made significant plays they want to take back, but I saw some really good things. I think we’re in a great position with multiple guys that can go into a game and help us win.”

Ole Miss’ offense plays with a fast tempo that most teams play with in the conference and running through it in a scrimmage to help prepare them for game situations.

“I think it was okay. I think that’s always challenging when it’s not a real game to get them to play really fast and take advantage of the situations,” Kiffin said. “Also, you’ve practiced more coming into a game. They practice Thursday and Friday and then play Saturday. That’s not normal that you do that. That’s kind of always the case and it’s always a challenge with tempo and heavy legs.”

The Rebels’ defense has had to learn a new scheme for this upcoming season under new defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

“I think it’s really competitive when you have a scheme that’s been tested over a long time,” Kiffin said. “I mean it’s a little variable difference from Alabama but similar to the Alabama/Georgia defensive structure. So that presents a lot of problems and has a lot of answers to the problems you present to them so that makes everybody better when you have that type of defensive structure.”

Ole Miss opens the season on September 2, as they play host to Mercer inside the Vaught. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network+.