Let’s be honest, hearing about the entire Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin drama is extremely addictive. We got to know a heck lot when the entire book got revealed and it had tons of information on how Saban and Kiffin had their entire fallout back in the deep tunnels of the stadium. Apparently, Saban even refused to talk to Kiffin after he found out that Kiffin was in contact with other teams for the HC position. However, today we got Saban giving Kiffin and Ole Miss praise. Or is this his attempt at damage control?

On the Pat McAfee show on August 23rd, we find Saban saying some big things about Ole Miss and Kiffin while also dismissing the entire drama that had happened between them. “I never made a quote about Lane Kiffin, so that wasn’t me…,” Saban noted. When the book by Armen Keteyian and John Talty first came out, the internet was in shock to find that Saban had made some major comments about Kiffin and his hiring. However, now he turns it all down. Not only that, the former HC of the Crimson Tide went on to admit that Kiffin couldn’t grab a win against the Tides before because he didn’t have access to the proper talents. Now he does, and the Rebels are probably going to rock. “Ole Miss is gonna be good and they’re gonna look like a big time program up front,” Saban noted.

When Kiffin took over Ole Miss, he could’ve never imagined how successful his first year as HC would be. The team went on to record an 11-2 season. Andy Staples from On3 had even noted that Ole Miss could end up winning the cup this year. Last year Kiffin could’ve easily made it to the 12-team playoff, however, the curse of losing to Alabama and Georgia followed him and he lost his chance. However, this year, Kiffin has made major changes to the team’s defense. This would allow them to lock down their opponents and make it an easy game.

Kiffin’s new defense

What Kiffin did this year was focus on the total transfers to the team. New kids who have joined the defensive line were Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen. Both players are nothing short of absolute monsters on the field. Nolen, who is marked as the No.2 national prospect, already achieved around 4 sacks and 37 tackles while playing with Texas. Umanmielen, on the other hand, has recorded around 35+ tackles. This number also includes the 22 solo ones he managed to pull while he was with the Gators.

Defensive coach Pete Golding is going to make major progress with these 2 kids on the team. The Rebels also have Trey Washington on their roster, who is going to be the cornerstone of their defense. The senior player has already recorded around 80+ tackles while playing with Ole Miss last year. With the beef squashed by Nick Saban, we can finally look forward to some good Ole Miss games.