Kiffin talks staff changes, impressions of roster and recruiting

[img]https://s3media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/306/562/9562306.jpg?fit=bounds&crop=620:320,offset-y0.50&width=620&height=320[/img]
Lane Kiffin is introduced to the Ole Miss fan base Monday inside the Pavilion. (Photo: Bruce Newman, 247Sports)
Lane Kiffin had two of his new hires with inside the room Monday during his press conference following his public introduction to the Ole Miss fan base inside the Pavilion.

Both coaches, strength and conditioning coach Wilson Love and running backs coach Kevin Smith, are bring-a-longs from Kiffin's staff at Florida Atlantic. Kiffin was officially named Ole Miss' head coach on Saturday.

So far, strength and conditioning coach Paul Jackson, offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez, offensive line coach Jack Bicknell and inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz are the only coaches from previous head coach Matt Luke's staff to be informed they would not be retained under Kiffin.

"We've been in a lot of work on that trying to figure it out," Kiffin said Monday. "We'll bring a great staff here..."

"We have two coaches that we brought with us...our strength coach Wilson Love and assistant coach Kevin Smith."

Kiffin said he plans to interview the remainder of the holdovers from Luke's staff, including on-the-field coaches and recruiting personnel in the coming days.

"We'll figure it out. We'll interview the guys that are here and potentially keep some of them, too," he shared.

Kiffin has already started his work on the recruiting trail. He disclosed that he has spoken with two in-state prospects already...one Sunday night and another at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

The Rebels' new head coach departed Monday's press conference to head over to the Manning Center for the first meeting with the his full team. He gave his initial thoughts on the returning roster that he inherits at Ole Miss.

"I've looked over it a little bit. Obviously, we (Florida Atlantic) were playing a game, so it's not like I studied it from a personnel standpoint. It was really more talking to people that knew around the league. They had a lot of excitement over these last two classes, especially the last one, and so that made it (Ole Miss) very attractive," Kiffin said.

Kiffin, naturally, has had to hit the ground running as the Rebels' new head coach. The pomp and circumstance of his hiring aside, the early signing period for college football begins on Dec. 18.

"We're going from here I believe...we're going somewhere. They gave me a schedule," Kiffin laughed. "I actually had a meeting with a recruit last night...and had another one starting at 6:30 a.m. today. You don't win in this conference just by being a good coach. You win in this conference by having really good assistants to get really good players. There's too much talent in this conference to think coaching alone does that," Kiffin said.

There's much more coverage of Lane Kiffin's first day on the job as the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels coming on the Spirit...

SOURCE: Johnson, David. "​Kiffin talks staff changes, impressions of roster and recruiting." OM Spirit - 247Sports.com, 9 December 2019, https://247sports.com/college/ole-miss/Article/Ole-Miss-head-coach-Lane-Kiffin-talks-staff-changes-meeting-his-new-team-and-recruiting-140197235/
 

yeah I saw some "personnel" title i think, but Tommy should be ashamed. He had no value added. Stricktly bogus by Matt using OUR money.

I hate to see Peeler isn’t going to be retained.  He seems to have been our biggest recruiter bringing in some big talent at WR.  I don’t know anything about his coaching and I’m glad Kiffin is making his own choices, just always thought he was valuable.

Defensive analyst Added

Monte Kiffin, Lane's Father, will work with his son at Ole Miss.  The former NFL coach held the same position at FAU and has worked in the collegiant level in the ACC, Big 10, Pac 12, and SEC.

Sources: Lane Kiffin eyes UCF's Jeff Lebby for Ole Miss OC job

New Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has zeroed in on UCF's Jeff Lebby to be his offensive coordinator and hopes to finalize a deal to bring Lebby with him to Oxford, sources told ESPN.

Lebby has been an integral part of the Knights' offensive success. They've averaged at least 43 points per game and ranked among the top five teams in the country in total offense each of the last two seasons. Lebby joined the UCF football staff in December 2017 as quarterbacks coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2019 season.

The son-in-law of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, Lebby worked on the Baylor staff in a number of roles, including passing game coordinator and running backs coach, before Briles was fired following a sexual assault investigation on campus involving several football players. Lebby spent the 2017 season as the offensive coordinator at Southeastern University, an NAIA school in Lakeland, Florida, and also worked under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma as a graduate assistant.

As Kiffin works to put together his staff at Ole Miss, he's pursuing several coaches he's worked with previously and/or who have SEC ties. One of those, according to sources, is Alabama head strength coach Scott Cochran, whom Kiffin would like to bring to Ole Miss as one of the 10 on-field assistants. Others being considered by Kiffin in various roles include former UTSA head coach Frank Wilson and current Tennessee receivers coach Tee Martin, as well as Burton Burns and Joe Pannunzio, both of whom worked with Kiffin at Alabama.

Kiffin brought with him from Florida Atlantic running backs coach Kevin Smith, strength coach Wilson Love and football operations staffer Hunter Greer. Kiffin is also considering a number of assistants on the previous Ole Miss staff, including defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre, and met with them on Monday in Oxford.

SOURCE: Low, Chris. "Sources: Lane Kiffin eyes UCF's Jeff Lebby for Ole Miss OC job." ESPN, 11 December 2019, https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28276313/sources-lane-kiffin-eyes-ucf-jeff-lebby-ole-miss-oc-job