SEC Unfiltered: Lane Kiffin makes Ole Miss a family affair by hiring rule-breaker brother

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Lane Kiffin emerged from his office last June to greet me and apologize that our scheduled interview would be delayed for a few minutes.

“Dad wants to talk to me,” the Ole Miss coach told me.

With that, Monte Kiffin headed into his son’s office.

The elder Kiffin is a former longtime NFL defensive coordinator who was an assistant on his son’s coaching staffs at Tennessee and Southern Cal. He’s now an analyst on Lane’s Ole Miss support staff.

Ole Miss football will become even more of a Kiffin family affair after Thursday’s reports that Chris Kiffin, who is Lane’s brother, will join the staff as a defensive assistant coach.

Like his brother, Chris Kiffin doesn’t conform to coloring inside the lines.

Chris Kiffin was an assistant on Hugh Freeze’s Ole Miss staff from 2012-16, during which time the program came under NCAA investigation for recruiting malfeasance. Chris Kiffin was accused of four recruiting violations, three of which he admitted to.

But maybe a little rule-bending is just what Ole Miss needs.

Despite the Rebels matching a program record with 10 wins this season, their 2022 recruiting class ranks 11th in the SEC.

Ole Miss is gobbling up impact transfers, highlighted by the additions of running back Zach Evans (TCU), wide receiver Jordan Watkins (Louisville), safety Isheem Young (Iowa State) and linebacker Troy Brown (Central Michigan).

Nonetheless, signing highly-ranked prep prospects is the surest way to build a program (see Georgia winning the national championship this season), and Ole Miss’ recruiting was never better than when Freeze’s staff flouted the rules on the Rebels’ march up the recruiting rankings.

Plenty of college coaches have bent the rules more significantly than the mostly petty offenses to which Chris Kiffin admitted.

My advice if he plans to reprise his rule-breaking behavior: Don’t get caught this time.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lane Kiffin adds rule-breaker brother, Chris, to Ole Miss staff | Reports