OXFORD — Another football season began Tuesday in Oxford.

It’s Lane Kiffin’s sixth and, as he noted, the ever-changing landscape of college football has made every season basically a complete re-start.

“It’s like it’s a brand new program,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin has mastered the transfer portal, and he’s used it to make Ole Miss one of the most successful programs in the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels won 10 games in 2021, 11 in 2023 and another 10 last season. Of course, relying heavily on the portal, Kiffin acknowledged Tuesday, means every year, “now more than ever, brings a brand new approach.”

Kiffin watched over a practice Tuesday that included “a lot of new and moving parts,” including a new starter at quarterback, a mostly new wide receiver room and a world of new faces on defense.

“It was good to be out there and good to get some work in,” Kiffin said. “We have a lot of challenges ahead of us and a lot of new starters at different places. We’re continuing to evolve a roster with free agency coming up. …It’s a work in progress.”

Kiffin didn’t go into details, obviously, but he didn’t dance away from the likelihood that Ole Miss will be active when the transfer portal opens again next month.

“That’s what these practices are for,” Kiffin said. “That’s what they are now, in my opinion. …A lot (of decisions) will have to do with how they perform, whether we bring in other people or whether they’ll even be here. I don’t like the way that sounds, but that’s the way it is.”

Ole Miss lost 11 players who participated in last month’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. That’s not only a lot of talent lost that played dominant football, as Kiffin said, but also an immeasurable amount of leadership. Kiffin said several players — notably wide receiver Cayden Lee and linebacker Tyler Banks — stepping up as leaders and helping new players with their transition to Ole Miss.

“That’s been good to see,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin emphasized again Tuesday that creating culture with so many new faces is “challenging.” Evaluating character is a critical part of the evaluation process, but it’s far from foolproof.

“The NFL screws it up and they have a lot of chances to eval, bringing them in for multiple visits and combines and all of those meetings,” Kiffin said. “We’re constantly trying to get that information and figure that out and make decisions about who to bring in here.”

Ole Miss returns to the practice field on Thursday.