OXFORD — In some ways, this spring reminds Lane Kiffin of this time a year ago.

In other ways, there are major differences.

Ole Miss began spring drills on Tuesday on a chilly day in north Mississippi, breaking in two new quarterbacks in a highly-publicized battle and a new defensive coordinator on the other side of the football breaking in what Kiffin called “a brand new defensive scheme.”

“There are not as many (new) impact players this time as there were a year ago, as I thought there were going to be,” Kiffin said. “Even though it doesn’t always pan out the way you think it’s going to. There were a couple of guys specifically who I thought would end up having bigger roles than they ended up performing last year. There will be a lot of new faces and new names and that’s very challenging.”

Kiffin said he views the quarterback room, one that features incumbent starter Jaxson Dart, Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders and LSU transfer Walker Howard, as “very competitive.”

Kiffin said Dart is “throwing really well” and is “stronger and much improved” from last season, when he completed 226 of 362 passes for 2,974 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Sanders, who started 41 games for the Cowboys before leaving Stillwater, was limited throwing earlier in the offseason due to a shoulder injury. Kiffin said Sanders was on the practice field taking reps Tuesday. Howard, a former five-star prospect, transferred to Ole Miss in January.

“It’s much different than where we were a year ago,” Kiffin said, alluding to last year’s competition between Dart and Luke Altmyer, who transferred to Illinois in January. “As far as depth and quality in the room.”

Kiffin said the quarterbacks will be evaluated on timing, accuracy and decision-making.

“We’ve got a long time, spring and fall, to figure it out,” Kiffin said. “We’ll let guys play. The goal is to improve the depth of every room. That’s when you become a really good team.”

Kiffin said new defensive coordinator Pete Golding is installing “a very different scheme than what we played before,” noting that there are new players mixing with returning players, some of whom are injured and limited in what they can do this spring. Golding comes to Ole Miss after a very successful stint at Alabama. He takes over an Ole Miss defense that allowed 387.8 yards and 25.5 points per game a season ago.

“It’s not just Pete,” Kiffin said. “There’s a lot of work to do there. We’ve seen the system work really well at a lot of places and now we’ve just got to get our guys to learn it.”

Kiffin said the quarterbacks are working behind a new offensive line this spring, one that will be without injured starters Jeremy James and Jayden Williams. Two transfers are new to the room and a third is on the way, so Kiffin said different players will get looks at different spots.

They’re also being asked to mesh with a wide receiver room with a plethora of new faces.

“Those guys will have a lot of work to do and a lot of production to be replaced,” Kiffin said, referring loosely to Texas A&M transfer Chris Marshall, Louisiana Tech transfer Tre Harris, high school signee Cayden Lee and Memphis transfer tight end Caden Prieskorn.

The Rebels return to the practice field on Thursday.

NOTES:

— Defensive end Jared Ivey said he’s focused on “tightening up” his body this offseason, hoping he will add some quickness to his game off the line of scrimmage. Ivey had 37 tackles in his first season at Ole Miss after transferring from Georgia Tech. He figures to have a huge role this season given the departure of Tavius Robinson to the professional ranks. Ivey said Golding’s scheme is “a little bit of everything.”

— Safety Isheem Young said Golding is “more of a calm, cool, collected coach.” Young said the disappointing close to Ole Miss’ 2022 season, one that saw the Rebels lose five of their final six games, has motivated the team headed into spring practices. He said the Rebels have to focus on “finishing games,” noting that the team learned that “little stuff matters.”Young said newcomer cornerbacks John Saunders Jr. and Zamari Walton have made strong first impressions.

“They love to compete,” Young said. “They’ve come in here competing. I definitely like them.”

— Kiffin said he spoke to Ole Miss women’s basketball coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin earlier this week after the Rebels defeated Stanford to advance to the Sweet 16 this weekend in Seattle. Ole Miss will face Louisville in a regional semifinal Friday. Kiffin said he told McPhee-McCuin that her players are “going to hear all week how great they are, the first time going to the Sweet 16 in so many years and all of that stuff. You have to get them away from that focus and get them on to the next game because upsets happen all the time, they’re a big story at the time and then when you don’t win the next one, they forget about you.”