Kiffin-Saban link delivers bit of spice

FAYETTEVILLE -- After Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin finished an interview with Paul Finebaum on Friday, he had a request for the talk-show host.

"Can you please stop predicting that we're going to beat Coach Saban for the first time ever as one of his former coaches?" Kiffin said. "That's rat poison, Paul."

Nick Saban -- Alabama's coach who is 19-0 against eight of his former assistants at Michigan State, LSU and with the Crimson Tide -- accused the media during the 2017 season of trying to feed rat poison to his team after its 6-0 start.

"All that stuff you write about how good we are, all that stuff they hear on ESPN, it's like poison," Saban said. "It's like taking rat poison."

Kiffin was Alabama's offensive coordinator from 2014-16 before leaving to become coach at Florida Atlantic, where he was 26-13 the past three seasons.

Now Kiffin is back for a third time in the SEC, where he also was Tennessee's coach in 2009.

Finebaum, speaking on ESPN in December, stated his belief Kiffin will finally end Saban's winning streak against his former assistant coaches.

"Lane Kiffin is obsessed with Nick Saban, and I think Nick Saban is obsessed with him," Finebaum said. "I firmly believe ... Lane Kiffin is going to be the first Saban disciple to beat the G.O.A.T. [Greatest Of All Time].

"I'm not saying it will happen [in 2020], but it's going to happen. Saban's not intimidated by people, but he's going to look over there and go, 'I don't want to play Lane Kiffin.' "

Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher, who is 0-3 against Saban, will be the first of his former assistants to get a shot at the master on Oct. 3. The Rebels play Alabama the next week in Oxford, Miss.

Kiffin, who went 11-3 at FAU in 2017 after the Owls had three consecutive 3-9 seasons under former Arkansas assistant Charlie Partridge, is trying to turn around an Ole Miss program that was 15-21 while led by Matt Luke -- including 4-8 last season.

"The last place at FAU, we were blessed with some really good talent that for whatever reason hadn't worked out before," Kiffin told reporters last week. "So we were able to capitalize on that and win 11 games the first year.

"I've said before, this is more difficult. With early signing day now, it's hard. You've got to wait really two years to really change your roster your second year because the first year is so hard."

Kiffin did inherit two quarterbacks -- sophomores John Rhys Plumlee and Matt Corral -- with starting experience.

Plumlee, who made eight starts as a true freshman, was the Rebels' leading rusher with 154 carries for 1,023 yards and 12 touchdowns. He completed 79 of 150 passes for 910 yards and 4 touchdowns with 3 interceptions.

Corral started the first four games as a redshirt freshman, was injured, then played six games off the bench. He completed 105 of 178 passes for 1,362 yards and 6 touchdowns with 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 254 yards and a touchdown.

Plumlee and Corral have been splitting snaps with the first- and second-team offenses, including a scrimmage Saturday.

"I thought Matt played extremely well," Kiffin told reporters on Monday. "He hit some big plays, was really accurate.

"John had a little more up and down. Did some really good things. Fumbled once for a big turnover. Both of them did some things to excite us."

Corral was asked last week in a Zoom call with reporters whether he considered transferring after last season.

"Kiffin was a big cherry on top for me personally," Corral said. "But as far as transferring, was it ever in my mind? Of course it was in my mind. But I didn't want to have to deal with all that extra stuff and everything that came with that."

Plumlee said the Rebels are working more on the passing game in practice after they had 559 running plays last season compared to 332 passes.

"I think everybody's really excited about it, to get a little bit more variety to the offense," Plumlee said. "I felt like last year sometimes we could be one-dimensional. But I think this upcoming year that we're going to turn some heads for sure."

Junior Elijah Moore is Ole Miss' leading returning receiver with 67 catches for 850 yards and 6 touchdowns last season. Jonathan Mingo, also a junior, had 12 catches for 172 yards.

Senior Eli Johnson would have been a returning starter at center, but he has opted out of playing this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ben Brown, a junior who started at guard last season, is now the first-team center.

"Ben's done a really, really good job," Plumlee said. "He's really talented physically and mentally to be able to switch positions like that. To just pick it up that quick I think is really, really impressive."

Sophomore running back Jerrion Ealy had 104 carries for 722 yards and 6 touchdowns last season.

The defense is led by senior linebacker Lakia Henry, who had 88 tackles last year. Junior linebacker Jacquez Jones had 71 tackles and senior safety Jon Haynes had 55.

D.J. Durkin, the former Maryland coach, is the Rebels' defensive coordinator. He also was a defensive coordinator at Florida and Michigan.

"The defense that coach Durkin brought in, it has a lot of things to go with it," Jones said. "You don't know who is blitzing. You don't know if it's a three-down or a four-down. There is a variety of things he brings with his defense."

Jeff Lebby is the Rebels' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks after being at Central Florida the previous two seasons, but Kiffin will continue to call the plays.