By Billy Watkins
As Dae’Quan Wright caught the fourth-down pass to seal the 24-19 victory over LSU last Saturday in Oxford, I thought back to something he told me in the preseason.
I asked him: “What is Kiffin’s secret to success?”
Wright smiled and rubbed his hands together before answering: “He’s a genius, man. It’s crazy! He just knows the right call at the right moment. Anytime he and Coach (Charlie) Weis call a play in a tight situation, we are a thousand percent sure it’s the right one.”
Kiffin and Weis dialed up a doozy against LSU. If you have not watched the pass to Wright again and studied how he got so open, I urge you to do so. It’s art in shoulder pads.
Ole Miss had a five-point lead and the ball at the LSU 35-yard line, fourth and three with 1:47 left. LSU had only one timeout left, a critical error by Tigers’ coach Brian Kelly.
Wright lined up left in an H-back position, just outside the tackle and off the ball. Another receiver was flexed on the line just outside him. Wideout Cayden Lee lined up wide left, off the ball.
Lee went in short motion before the play. The LSU corner went with him. That revealed man to man coverage, which is exactly what Ole Miss was hoping for.
At the snap, Lee ran a shallow crossing route, which took the cornerback across the field. The receiver just outside Wright ran a “go” pattern and the safety followed him. Wright ran an “out” pattern. There was no defender close to him. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss delivered a strike. First down. Ball game. (By the way, check out running back Kewan Lacy’s blitz pickup on the play.)
That’s plain ol’ coaching and player execution. As Wright talked about, it was the right play at the right time.
It boosted Ole Miss to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC. It also vaulted the Rebels to No. 4 in the country during a bye week.
It had Kelly making a strange comment postgame: “Ole Miss was the better team today. But then tomorrow comes.” What did that even mean? Anybody?
Yes, plenty of challenges are still ahead, not just for Ole Miss but for every school. But this team, which lost so many great players from last season, has done everything asked of it.
And one more note on Wright: His 23.3 yards per catch average leads the SEC and ranks second among tight ends nationally.
Ole Miss receivers claim four of the top seven spots in yards per catch: Harrison Wallace III is second (21.2); Cayden Lee is sixth (18.8); Deuce Alexander is seventh (18.4).
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I talk to my kids all the time about the “good ol’ days.” And when I do, they reminisce about years long gone. That is not unusual. And there is nothing wrong with that. I’m glad they have those memories.
But what age has taught me is that we can have more than one period of “good ol’ days.” Lots of times, it’s right now, right under our noses.
Ole Miss fans, these are the good ol’ days. You have Lane Kiffin as your head coach, Charlie Weis, Jr. as your offensive coordinator and Pete Golding heading up the defense. I would challenge any school in America to top that trio. No, it doesn’t guarantee a win every time out But it does promise that your players will be put in a position to succeed each and every Saturday.
Since 2021, the year after COVID and Kiffin’s second season in Oxford, Ole Miss ranks third among SEC schools in victories, behind Georgia and Alabama.
Never doubt, coaching matters — and matters a lot. Kiffin is the coach so many schools want, yet he talks frequently about how much he loves Oxford and how living there has changed his life — and his family’s — for the better.
Who saw that coming?
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When Pete Golding left Alabama and was hired by Kiffin prior to the 2023 season, most knew the defense was about to get better.
It took a year. His defense is complicated. He was working with players who were new to his system. The Rebels’ defense finished seventh in the SEC that season, but the team managed to go 11-2, including a victory over Penn State in the Peach Bowl.
In 2024, Ole Miss ranked second nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 14.4 points per game — the fewest in 66 years.
This year’s unit began with mostly new players. It has been a work in progress but has played much better the past two games.
Ole Miss assistant coaches are rarely allowed to speak to the media. But I went back and looked at Golding’s preseason press conference. I wanted to know how he has been successful at Ole Miss, and I wanted to hear it in his words.
I found these quotes on what he looks for in the transfer portal:
“We don’t take guys in the portal who weren’t starters where they were at. If you’re not good enough to play for them, you’re probably not good enough to play for us.
“(We’re looking for) experienced, guys who have been in big games. And we look for SEC first. They’ve been in stadiums (around the league), they’re not gonna take a picture when they get there. They’ve been in big moments, been in bowl games so it’s just the next game.
“And we want to know, is this somebody our players want to be around? We put a lot on our players when we bring a guy in (for an official visit) They’re hanging out with the guy. We get their feedback. They’ve hung out with him outside the (football) building, saw some true colors. So we ask, ‘Is this guy going to be a good teammate, somebody you want to go to war with or not?’
“To me, the big thing is football IQ and can they learn the system and then show it on the field.
“ In recruiting right now, there are guys who love football and there are guys who love what football can do for them. The paycheck is good, the car is good, condo is better. But at the end of the day, do they love football?”
It’s not easy for a player to check all those boxes, but Golding, nor Kiffin, will settle for less.
So Ole Miss fans, enjoy the good ol’ days of Kiffin, Weis, Golding and other key pieces to that coaching staff. They have been a long time coming.
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