Gauging the Grove: Ole Miss fans still cautiously optimistic for special season
Sep. 30—Last weekend's loss to Alabama was a disappointment for Ole Miss, but on the surface, not much had changed in the Grove ahead of the Rebels' matchup with No. 13 LSU.
Swarms of red-clad Ole Miss fans still filled out the Grove, huddled under tents munching on food, sipping an adult beverage or four and squeezing their way through the congested walkways to find their friends.
After all, there's still a season to save. Hopes of Atlanta still lingered, and anything can happen on any given Saturday, especially with a packed crowd in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on the horizon. Even after last weekend's disappointment, there's still a sense of cautious optimism with Lane Kiffin at the helm, both for this year and next.
"I think Ole Miss football is in a better position than it's been in in a long time," longtime fan Joe Martello said. "I think it has to do a lot with Lane's charisma and his ability to create excitement around the program."
If lively pregame scenes were an indication of a healthy program, then Ole Miss was passing with flying colors.
"I think Ole Miss is as you see — look at this crowd here," Stan Whitley said. "Of course, it is LSU weekend, but every weekend we're packed down here. I think Lane Kiffin has been a good addition to us."
Cautious optimism
Feelings toward Kiffin among those polled were generally around a seven out of 10. While Kiffin fielding a competitive team has been enjoyable for some, there are also hopes of actually winning big games at some point.
"We need to ride this era with him because I don't know what coach could come in here and pull guys out of the portal and generate NIL the way he has to his credit," said Nick McKenzie, a football season ticket holder since 2001. "I don't know any other guy that can do that, but it's time to get these donors to keep buying in, keep replicating what we're doing year over year. You've got to show it on the field and you've got to start winning some of the big games, and we haven't been doing that."
But the big fear is another backslide like last season. The Rebels jumped out to a 7-0 start, only to lose five of their last six games.
"Today's game's really important — if we lose to LSU, we have no shot at getting to Atlanta," said Sean Hoffmann. "So it's another year where Ole Miss won't make it to the SEC Championship, and it could start a downward spiral like last year after the Alabama game, where we could lose out the rest of the season if this happens."
Hitting the transfer portal and social media antics
If there are two things Kiffin has made his bread and butter, it's recruiting players from the transfer portal and making waves on Twitter.
Martello hasn't always enjoyed Kiffin's candor, but he appreciated how Kiffin fell on his proverbial sword following the Alabama game.
"If you follow him, the guy, he's hilarious," Martello said. "You'd like a little more professionalism sometimes, but what I look at is, he puts the product on the field, he supports his team and he backs up what he says for the most part.
"I think he came out and immediately took ownership (after the Alabama loss). He said it was all on him, it wasn't on the players. I think that's what a leader is supposed to do."
For younger fans, like Harrison Gilliam, Kiffin's active Twitter presence is just part of being a college football coach in 2023.
"I think the whole new wave of college football is post, post, post, post," Gilliam said. "It doesn't matter what, just get the content out there and get high-schoolers looking at Ole Miss."
But while the transfer portal has given the Rebels an infusion of talent, some worry about its long-term sustainability and have concerns about the development of the recruits Ole Miss pulls from the high-school level.
"You've got to provide a path for players coming in," McKenzie said. "I see the guys that we're grabbing out of high school, we're not developing them, they're not stepping on the field, they're not playing. Especially in the receiver room, young guys that we brought in that we expect to contribute haven't."
One big change
The topic of who is calling offensive plays for Ole Miss came up a couple of times. Some fans aren't fans of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., especially given Kiffin's past success as a playcaller. The offense's struggles against Alabama last weekend didn't help, either.
"I think that we should take playcalling responsibilities out of Charlie Weis Jr.'s hands and Lane Kiffin should be calling plays," Hoffmann said. "He's one of the best offensive minds in modern college football and he has less say than he should."
"I just think that the playcalling is a bit suspicious," Gilliam said. "Just constantly running plays over and over again that (don't) work."
Among the things Ole Miss fans wanted to see out of the Rebels on Saturday was the running game finding its groove. The Rebels have fallen from finishing last season third in the country in rushing yards per game to 76th this season.
"Gotta run the ball, gotta run the ball," Whitley said. "Can't make any mistakes, going to have to capitalize on some of their mistakes in there a little bit, too. But I think if we run the ball, I think we will be fine."
Behind enemy lines
LSU fan Robert Brown made the trip to Oxford Saturday, and he likes Lane Kiffin.
"I like his attitude, he doesn't really care what anybody thinks," Brown said. "I do think that they paid him a lot of money, so maybe next year or the year after he'll be in the hot seat if he doesn't start winning. Two, three losses ain't bad, but it's the SEC, you want to win more than that."
Brown's Tigers haven't always had the best of times against Kiffin dating back to the latter's stint under Nick Saban from 2014 to 2016. In that span, Alabama won all three games between the two teams. Though, Kiffin was 1-2 at Ole Miss against LSU heading into Saturday's game.
"He was under Nick Saban, so you're scared of him, but I'm pretty confident," Brown said.
