What does win over Georgia mean for Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Football?
3 mins read

What does win over Georgia mean for Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Football?

Ole Miss made historic 28-10 upset about Georgia on Saturday, and head coach Lane Kiffin’s legacy with the Rebels got a defining moment in the process.

For Kiffin, this marks a big moment in the history of the program as well as his career as a head coach. Entering the game, Ole Miss hadn’t beaten a top-five team since Alabama in 2015, but it attacked the transfer portal this offseason with games like this specifically in mind.

“Really happy for our university,” Kiffin said after the game. “Five years ago when we came here after four non-winning seasons, a lot of really good things have happened, but there hasn’t been a signing like this. Been close. Just really happy.”

Kiffin has coached the Rebels for four-plus seasons now and has had a winning record every year outside of the covid-impacted 2020 season where they finished 5-5. To say he rebuilt the football program after Ole Miss was mired in NCAA sanctions would be an understatement, but as he pointed out, it hadn’t been a “signature win.”

With Saturday’s results, it has become clear that this Ole Miss team is one that can not only be among the best, but dominate the best as well. And as the season draws to a close and the playoff race heats up, Kiffin has placed the Rebels right in the middle of the race.

“That’s a great team in Georgia. When they played teams outside of Alabama, they won 51 straight games against people since covid,” Kiffin said. “I’m happy for our players, to play that way, in what ends up being dominant.

“To win by three points, there are a lot of people doing a lot of things right. This game started a year ago, when they (Georgia) beat us like that, and we made a decision to go to the (transfer) portal, got some guys to come back and not go to the draft, to come back for this.”

Kiffin’s ability to retain talent is impressive. With so many key starters returning this season, all so they could win games like this, it sends a message about the kind of culture Kiffin has created in Oxford. The ability to also bring in impact players via the transfer portal has earned Kiffin the nickname “Portal King”.

The popular slogan for the university on the academic side has been “Build Your Legacy at Ole Miss,” and Lane Kiffin has certainly done that during his time at Oxford.

The Rebels have an open date ahead of this week as they look to recover for their final two games of the season. Ole Miss next game is at Florida on Nov. 23 with kickoff at 11:00 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ABC or ESPN.