Ole Miss
Coach: Lane Kiffin (first year)
2019: 4-8 (2-6), 53rd in SP+
2020 projection: 4-6, 38th
Five best returning players: RG Ben Brown, RB Jerrion Ealy, LB Jacquez Jones, QB Matt Corral, LB Sam Williams
Lane Kiffin likes to keep things loose. He enjoys himself on Twitter, he dragged Nick Saban out of his comfort zone (and dragged Alabama's offense into the 2010s), and he maintains his sense of humor at almost all times.
It makes thematic sense, then, that his return to the SEC came in part because a player celebrated a touchdown by imitating a urinating dog.
Elijah Moore's ill-fated celebration, followed by the missed PAT that cost Ole Miss the Egg Bowl, also cost Matt Luke his job after three seasons of leading his alma mater. Luke went just 15-21 while guiding his Rebels through the sanctions left behind by the Hugh Freeze era. And now Kiffin gets to lead the program into the future.
Kiffin's eccentricities might have distracted some people from the fact that he's a hell of a coach. He indeed modernized Alabama's offense in the mid-2010s and won a national title in the process, and in three years as Florida Atlantic's head coach, he led the Owls to their first two Conference USA titles. (And hell, even his ill-fated stint as USC's head coach, in which he went 28-15 over 3.5 seasons, looks somewhat appealing in retrospect.) Despite his nearly two full, high-profile decades as a coach, he's somehow only 45.
He inherits some tantalizing offensive personnel, too. Sophomore running backs Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner combined for 1,234 yards (6.7 per carry) last season, and while former coordinator Rich Rodriguez's offense took a run-heavy turn in 2019, a receiving corps of Moore and young former blue-chippers such as Jonathan Mingo and Dannis Jackson could produce some fireworks. The line is pretty thin, but the trickiest thing for Kiffin and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby will be figuring out how to get the most from two quarterbacks. Sophomore passer Matt Corral was born to play in a Kiffin system, but John Rhys Plumlee was as explosive with his legs as he was limited with his arm.
Depth is far more of a problem on the defense. Three of last season's top four linemen are gone, as is leading safety Jalen Julius, and a high percentage of Ole Miss' recent blue-chippers play on the offensive side of the ball. Still, the return of MoMo Sanogo gives co-coordinators Chris Partridge and DJ Durkin quite a bit to work with in the middle of the defense, and both corner Keidron Smith and corner/safety Jaylon Jones are solid. Between senior Sam Williams, redshirt freshman Brandon Mack and former Guelph University standout Tavius Robinson, at least one solid edge rusher should emerge. But outside of inside linebacker, the proven quantities are minimal.
The schedule's about as kind as an SEC West schedule can be -- Auburn and Alabama come to Oxford, and the Rebels always draw Vanderbilt out of the East. Still, getting to .500 will require some new defensive standouts to emerge and the offensive line to hold up. It might also require some sort of cloning job to combine all of Corral's and Plumlee's good traits into one QB.
www.espn.com
Coach: Lane Kiffin (first year)
2019: 4-8 (2-6), 53rd in SP+
2020 projection: 4-6, 38th
Five best returning players: RG Ben Brown, RB Jerrion Ealy, LB Jacquez Jones, QB Matt Corral, LB Sam Williams
Lane Kiffin likes to keep things loose. He enjoys himself on Twitter, he dragged Nick Saban out of his comfort zone (and dragged Alabama's offense into the 2010s), and he maintains his sense of humor at almost all times.
It makes thematic sense, then, that his return to the SEC came in part because a player celebrated a touchdown by imitating a urinating dog.
Elijah Moore's ill-fated celebration, followed by the missed PAT that cost Ole Miss the Egg Bowl, also cost Matt Luke his job after three seasons of leading his alma mater. Luke went just 15-21 while guiding his Rebels through the sanctions left behind by the Hugh Freeze era. And now Kiffin gets to lead the program into the future.
Kiffin's eccentricities might have distracted some people from the fact that he's a hell of a coach. He indeed modernized Alabama's offense in the mid-2010s and won a national title in the process, and in three years as Florida Atlantic's head coach, he led the Owls to their first two Conference USA titles. (And hell, even his ill-fated stint as USC's head coach, in which he went 28-15 over 3.5 seasons, looks somewhat appealing in retrospect.) Despite his nearly two full, high-profile decades as a coach, he's somehow only 45.
He inherits some tantalizing offensive personnel, too. Sophomore running backs Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner combined for 1,234 yards (6.7 per carry) last season, and while former coordinator Rich Rodriguez's offense took a run-heavy turn in 2019, a receiving corps of Moore and young former blue-chippers such as Jonathan Mingo and Dannis Jackson could produce some fireworks. The line is pretty thin, but the trickiest thing for Kiffin and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby will be figuring out how to get the most from two quarterbacks. Sophomore passer Matt Corral was born to play in a Kiffin system, but John Rhys Plumlee was as explosive with his legs as he was limited with his arm.
Depth is far more of a problem on the defense. Three of last season's top four linemen are gone, as is leading safety Jalen Julius, and a high percentage of Ole Miss' recent blue-chippers play on the offensive side of the ball. Still, the return of MoMo Sanogo gives co-coordinators Chris Partridge and DJ Durkin quite a bit to work with in the middle of the defense, and both corner Keidron Smith and corner/safety Jaylon Jones are solid. Between senior Sam Williams, redshirt freshman Brandon Mack and former Guelph University standout Tavius Robinson, at least one solid edge rusher should emerge. But outside of inside linebacker, the proven quantities are minimal.
The schedule's about as kind as an SEC West schedule can be -- Auburn and Alabama come to Oxford, and the Rebels always draw Vanderbilt out of the East. Still, getting to .500 will require some new defensive standouts to emerge and the offensive line to hold up. It might also require some sort of cloning job to combine all of Corral's and Plumlee's good traits into one QB.
SEC West preview: Is Alabama ready to reclaim its throne?
Defending champ LSU loses nearly everyone from last season's squad, while Alabama reloads and Texas A&M looks for a breakthrough in Jimbo Fisher's third season.
www.espn.com
