OXFORD -- Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin met with the media, discussing the ninth-ranked Rebels' 52-28 win over Vanderbilt this past Saturday and previewing Saturday's 11 a.m. meeting with Auburn.
Here's a look at what Kiffin said -- and maybe, just maybe, what he meant -- during Monday's press conference.
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Opening statement…
What he said:
"Recap of the game, very glad we got a road win. Glad the way that, for the most part, we finished the game—48-8 in the last 31 minutes of the game. That's very good playing on the road. Not very pleased with how we started. We didn't tackle very well at all. A lot of work to do. We didn't punt, which is a goal of ours. That part was good, but at the same time, we had three series that we get no points out of by throwing them the ball twice and missing a throw on the fourth-down conversion, so a lot of work to do.”
What he meant: Some 48 hours later, Kiffin is still bothered by two things. One, his team didn’t answer the opening bell. Two, and I think this is interesting, Kiffin knows the Rebels could’ve had a lot more offense had it not been for a couple of mistakes. I think Kiffin knows this team can be special. I think he thinks it’s close. But it’s not there yet.
On Jonathan Mingo…
What he said:
"Congratulations to Jonathan Mingo with the receiving record. I think that's really cool for a guy who has been here a long time, never complains about catches or playing time. It's awesome to use those stories with the team this morning for guys to understand there's something to just working really hard and doing all the little things like you did to spring another touchdown run by blocking a linebacker. Glad for him.”
What he meant: He wishes he had a team full of Jonathan Mingo, and he’s using Mingo’s success as a motivation for those who aren’t working as hard as Mingo does.
On Auburn…
What he said:
"Huge game coming up, a team that has beat us twice and has really good players and has played really good at times. We're going to need to improve. We're going to need our fans to come with a lot of energy. When you watch football around the country, you see how fans matter. You saw false starts at the end of the Alabama game and the inability for people to hear when they're trying to use a verbal cadence. Saw the effect in the Kentucky game by our crowd. We need that again.”
What he meant: Kiffin is 0-2 against Auburn. He’s not looking ahead. He doesn’t want anyone else doing it either. I suspect he wants this one quite a bit.
On Michael Trigg…
What he said:
"We don't have any public injury information like always.”
What he meant: I suspect he’d like to figure out where the leaks are coming from on this. I bet I know. On second thought, I suspect he knows, too. In this era of NIL, I guess it’s just going to happen.
On Ladarius Tennison, Tysheem Johnson and Isheem Young playing rock, paper, scissors to decide who starts at safety…
What he said:
"That's why we don't let assistant coaches talk to the media. Chris Partridge decided to tell the media that we do that. That's just something that we were in a situation with three really good players that basically play two spots. We play a lot of plays on defense because of our offensive tempo. It's very hard for anybody to play the whole game and play really fast. Those guys, we knew would end up playing, if there's 80 plays, 60 between all of them. I just said, ‘Well, they can't hold it against us which one starts, so let them play rock, paper, scissors every week.’ They can only blame themselves. It's a classic. Because then they argue when one wins, they say best two out of three. It gets them arguing with each other, not us.”
What he meant: It’s a funny story. And he’s right. All three of those guys have played a lot of football. I suspect the actual parceling of playing time is more complicated than that simple game.
On his go-to on rock, paper, scissors…
What he said:
"I haven't played that for a while. The only time I guess I really have anymore is with Knox, and then you're not allowed to win because then it goes to best of five, it just keeps going. I don't really have a go-to on that.”
What he meant: He probably lost a bit of respect for me asking this, but I was trying to lighten the mood. As a fellow dad, I do very much admire how much he obviously loves his son. He talks about him a good bit, which I find endearing. I get it. I could talk about my son for days on end.
On the health of the team without a bye week to this point…
What he said:
"It is what it is. Whatever the schedule is, don't worry about it. You never know. Sometimes you wish it was at a certain time and it comes later and you don't know that you actually like it better then. Everybody has issues this time of year. We have ours. It seems like a lot of them. We'll do our best and move people around like we have and figure it out.”
What he meant: This was my question. His answer, I felt, was revelatory. This team is pretty beat-up at this point and it’s likely becoming a concern. Look around at the teams suffering losses due to injury. Kentucky says hello. So does Arkansas. It’s likely a worry.
On playing Auburn…
What he said:
"I think they've got really good players and have given us problems. We haven't done really well offensively in either game. We've got to worry about what we can control, which is playing really well and playing a full game. Now we've shown we can do it backwards. Normally we were this first-half team and don't play great fourth quarters, and we were the opposite this week. The challenge is to put it all together.”
What he meant: He steered back into the play-a-full-game thing. I’m going to guess that is the focus in a lot of meetings and practices this week.
On the challenge for coaches on the hot seat…
What he said:
"I didn't do very good, I got fired after five games, so I'm probably not the one to ask how to do that. I was 3-2, so I'm probably not the right one to ask that.”
What he said: This got quite the laugh. I’d like to see Kiffin get a shot at USC. I’d take his team and lay points. That fired-on-the-tarmac thing is a motivating force, I’m guessing.
On challenges running the ball against Vandy…
What he said:
"Every game is different. It's why you predict this is going to happen, you don't know. They coach too, they play too. People know what you do and they start to take it away, otherwise it'd be easy every week. Once you start running and putting up 300-yard games and stuff, people start doing different stuff to you. That opens up different things. To me, they were playing a lot of run stunts and heavy run game in the front. So you saw, when we passed, you have a lot of time to throw. That's just how it always works, and it's why you always want balance, so when they take one away, you can do the other.”
What he said: Vanderbilt tried to take away the run, so Jaxson Dart threw for 450-plus yards. I think Kiffin knows more teams are going to try to do the same, which might be why the two interceptions are still bugging him 48 hours later. If Dart can cut out the one or two dumb throws a game, the Rebels’ offense is going to be difficult to stop.
On Mingo…
What he said:
"I just really like him as a kid. He's an awesome leader by example. Never says anything but just works and never complains. He's been through adversity. I remember the passion he had when the guy came out and tried to practice for Alabama when there was no way he was going to be able to go and still tried, and the tears in his eyes. It's just special kids. You take a team meeting at every school and say, 'Who loves football?' And they'll all raise their hand. Well that's not true. When you really love football, you practice and prepare like this guy does. He's just awesome to have around.”
What he said: See the earlier answer. It’s more of that.
On the pass protection…
What he said:
"I think it's better. Not to not be completely positive, but part of that is, once you run the ball, they play the pass different. You get different pass rushes and you don't get in a lot of third-and-longs. They have improved. That's been good. But the ability to run the ball like they have definitely helps that.”
What he meant: Again, Kiffin knows if the passing game gets clean, this offense is going to be explosive.
On if they have a name for the set with JJ Pegues and KD Hill playing fullback…
What he said:
"That's what we did at Alabama. Just a goal line thing. We've actually had it and didn't have a situation where we really needed it. It just came up. I think it was A'shawn Robinson and Jonathan Allen. It was just something that we always had. I think Payne did it once for us too. We don't have a lot of bigger tight end bodies. Those guys a lot of times are more athletic at things. It was good. We got out on it today because, if you watch the celebration afterward, all of the offensive players celebrate, then all the D-linemen run over to each other and celebrate. I tried to teach them it's a team game, you can celebrate with the guy who scored the touchdown too.”
What he said: First, Kiffin so clearly learned so much of who he is today at Alabama. He references those days often, and his time in Tuscaloosa clearly influenced so much of the coach he has grown into. Second, he’s joking a bit here, but at the same time, I think this is indicative of the chemistry this team is still building. That’s a work in progress, and as the season gets into the toughest portion, it’s going to be critical.
On talking to Clark Lea scoring a late TD at Vandy…
What he said:
"Sometimes things happen there in the heat of the game and you don't really feel great about it. Even though our players get mad at me, probably should've taken a knee there, and I told him that needs one yard to have the school record. They said that at the beginning of the series. So we were trying to throw him a hitch and tell him to run out of bounds. They clouded it the first two times, so that's why we threw him a ball there at the end, so I wanted him to know that too. Matt Jones has been service team player of the week like four weeks in a row. So we moved him up and brought him on the trip. Kind of got caught up in that but didn't really like how it felt.”
What he meant: I wonder if we’d have heard this answer two years ago. I’m guessing not. If you still need proof that Kiffin has grown into a more thoughtful, empathetic person, this answer should provide it. There’s a lot there.
On Zach Evans and Quinshon Judkins…
What he said:
"I just think they have a really good relationship. Very unselfish, which is hard to do. It's a hard thing, egos get involved and there are only so many carries, and only one guy can be in at a time for the most part. It's not like playing receiver. I think they've done a great job and really complement each other really well.”
What he meant: Not a lot to add to that. It’s not easy to share the spotlight, but Evans and Judkins have done it.
On Zach Evans…
What he said:
"I think he had a really good second half and he set the tone. He talked about playing angry at halftime and he came out and ran the guy over on the sidelines instead of running out of bounds, so I think that was good to see. Then that followed later on with the touchdown run, another one where you could go out of bounds. I think that was really good and our sideline felt that hit when he ran the guy over on the sidelines.”
What he meant: I remember that run. That was a run that told Vanderbilt they might as well forget it. It was a grown-man run. NFL scouts likely had to clean themselves up after that one.
On Kyirin Heath…
What he said:
"He just hasn't had a lot of opportunities. He had a couple holds at the end of games when he got in there and some freshman mistakes. He's going to be really good. Have really high expectations for him.”
What he meant: We were talking about the freshman tight end for a reason today. Kiffin knew it. Heath is going to be a great player one day. He’s not there yet, but he might have to grow up fast with Trigg out.
On the short passing game turning into big plays…
What he said:
"Any time you can throw short and run long and score from far, it makes it a lot easier. That was huge. We've had a lot of explosive passes this season but not necessarily the really long ones. That obviously was really good to have. That's a quarterback's friend to use your players, throw it short and they make a lot of yards after contact.”
What he said: With Trigg out, the Rebels need even more of the big plays from Evans, Judkins, Mingo, Malik Heath and Jordan Watkins. Teams are going to stack the box in an attempt to take away the run and make Dart beat them with his arm. Those five-yard passes that turn into 60-yard plays are going to be the kind of things that force defenses to be honest.
