How Ole Miss football's Grove Bowl scrimmage vindicated Lane Kiffin's QB transfer approach
OXFORD – Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin seemed to sense the conversation drifting away from the point.
Asked following the Rebels' spring game Saturday whether the transfer portal made it easier to manufacture healthy competition — particularly at quarterback — Kiffin corrected the course.
For him, it's about adding as many good players to your roster as you possibly can. That's the remit. If that mission happens to foster healthy competition, consider it a bonus.
"It's not just competition why you bring people in, it's to make your roster better," Kiffin said. "I think it gets forgotten sometimes with the kids or their parents, that they all don't understand. 'Well, does it mean you don't have confidence in our kid?' No, it doesn't, it means we wanna win games, and we wanna have really deep rosters so that when things happen, other guys are ready to play."
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The context for that discussion, of course, lies within the Ole Miss quarterback room. The Rebels return starter Jaxson Dart, who wasn't perfect last season but showed promise. Kiffin acquired two talented transfers anyway over the offseason in fifth-year senior Spencer Sanders and talented redshirt freshman Walker Howard.
The college football universe scratched its collective head. Surely, they reasoned, there's little need for that much firepower in one room, especially considering the resources likely required to bring it aboard in the age of NIL.
But even the most casual of onlookers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Saturday should now see Kiffin's vision.
The Rebels don't have one quarterback who can excel if given the right tools. They have three.
The spring game stats were impressive. That trio of QBs combined to throw seven touchdowns and rush for two more, turning it over just once.
But let's disregard the meaningless scrimmage numbers and use our eyes for a second. Watch Howard fit throws into tight windows while on the run. Watch Sanders send the defense into conflict on every single snap with his dual-threat ability. Watch Dart make the big play with the game on the line, sealing the 53-52 victory for the Red team with a two-point conversion with no time on the clock.
"They made out-of-rhythm, competitive plays," Kiffin said. "I thought early there was some really good in-rhythm timing plays, some passes to the (running) backs. Then they made some up as it went along, you could see the tempo wear down the defense and guys make a lot of plays when the defensive pressure was tired."
When it becomes clear as to who will start, maybe Ole Miss can't hang onto all three of them. That seems to be the most significant counterargument to what Kiffin has done here. And it's a valid one, especially as it pertains to Sanders and Dart. Would Sanders really want to ride out his final season of eligibility on the bench? Would Dart accept a reserve role after being the guy last season? Neither has indicated anything publicly, but it's certainly logical to wonder.
Maybe that trio will eventually become a duo. And if it does, so what? Ole Miss' quarterback room will still be better off than it was a year ago.
The path was unconventional — and maybe even uncomfortable for some — but Kiffin has undoubtedly made the Rebels better at the most important position on the field.
"I thought I made huge improvements," Dart said. "I only turned the ball over once all spring... I feel like I've made big strides and I look forward to continuing to develop."
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football transfers vindicate Lane Kiffin in Grove Bowl
