JACKSON — Ole Miss football fans, now four years into Lane Kiffin’s tenure, are acquainted with the coach’s reluctance to punt.
That hesitancy, it turns out, is not a hereditary trait.
Speaking at an alumni event at the Country Club of Jackson on Tuesday night, Kiffin received some good-natured ‒ albeit unsolicited ‒ advice from a fan, who instructed him to stop going for it on fourth-and-forever.
It reminded Kiffin of a conversation he had with his son, Knox, following Ole Miss’ 42-25 loss to Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl in Houston in 2022.
The Rebels went for it seven times on fourth down in that contest, succeeding just twice in a game that was over by halftime.
“You sound like my son,” Kiffin told the fan. “After the Houston bowl, he calls and he says, ‘That was so embarrassing. It’s not a video game, Dad. Punt.’ “But maybe Dad knows best on this one. Kiffin went for it 36 times on fourth down in 2023 – nine more attempts than anyone else in the SEC – and achieved a 69.4% conversion rate that ranked 11th nationally.
Knox, a Class of 2028 prospect who plays quarterback, is beginning to see his recruitment pick up. He’ll begin high school at Palos Verdes in California this fall. Division II Mississippi College became the first program to offer him a scholarship back in April. Arkansas State out of the Sun Belt and SMU, set for a move to the ACC, have since done the same.
- We have kind of a higher standard for the quarterbacks we take,” Kiffin joked in Memphis last week. “We’ll keep him hungry.”David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger.
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