Lane Kiffin Gains Playoff Clarity as College Football Analyst Outlines Weak Spots for Ole Miss

By Pune Media On May 20, 2025

The 2025 season is just around the corner, and for Ole Miss, that’s a welcome reset. Lane Kiffin’s Rebels are coming off a 2024 campaign that started with CFP hopes and ended with a Gator Bowl win. A respectable finish, but not what Oxford had envisioned. With spring camp now in the rearview and the transfer portal locked, the pieces are in place. The puzzle, though, is trickier than ever. The roster’s been shuffled, expectations remain sky-high, and analysts are starting to get vocal about both the promise and the pitfalls of what’s coming in Kiffin’s fifth full season at the helm.

For SEC Unfiltered’s Cole Thompson and Dave Shumate, the Rebels’ outlook rides on some razor-thin margins. But overall, they exude a sense of optimism. “Ole Miss gets to the playoffs I feel like they’re most dangerous team that nobody would want to face. That’s how much I like their roster. But now the other room has a ton of production, including quarterback in Austin Simmons, multiple wide receivers, more defensive line depth, really big names replaced in the defensive line, questions of the secondary,” said Thompson. “But it is like Kiffin; it is Ole Miss. They seem to over-exceed expectations in years where people doubt them.”

Well, there are some key reasons why they could make the playoffs….

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Shumate pointed to a critical piece often overlooked in the transfer portal era: staff stability. “I’m gonna say because of like continuity on the staff. I mean, again, it’s much turnover transition as they’ve had on the personnel side on the roster. But you mentioned it there. I mean, they do have, obviously their head coach back, Lane Kiffin, Charlie Weis [Jr.] back. You had Pete Golding back, and you can have the special-teams guy, Jake Schoonover back. I mean, it doesn’t happen a lot in the sport now.” He’s not wrong. Continuity, especially on the coaching side, gives Ole Miss a foundation that many teams with major personnel losses simply don’t have. “That can help a lot of these newcomers—the transfer portal players and the freshmen coming in—transition a little easier,” Shumate added.

There’s a quiet confidence building around sophomore QB1 Austin Simmons. “We only saw him for a quick cup of coffee against Georgia. He was in control. The game did not look overpowering to him. It did feel like that he was out of place. It didn’t look like he was a backup,” Cole Thompson said. Simmons’ chemistry with Cayden Lee, projected WR1, and his full offseason investment after skipping baseball give the Rebels an early edge in cohesion.

“He was fully invested in football. So he had an entire offseason to learn the playbook, build that rapport with a bunch of young wide receivers and a bunch of newcomers. So I think that’s already just a huge win and advantage.” The other major card in Lane Kiffin’s deck?

via Imago

His uncanny ability to find impact players through the transfer portal. “Kiffin has this knack about just finding guys in the portal,” said Thompson. That pipeline has turned Ole Miss into a yearly wild card. Yes, the roster’s been reworked, but Kiffin’s track record says that shouldn’t scare anyone in Oxford. The portal isn’t just about plugging gaps.

Statistically, 2024 wasn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, defensively, the Rebels were elite. They led the nation in sacks per game and tackles for loss per game and finished second in scoring defense, allowing just over 14 points per contest. But replicating that in 2025 will be a tall order. So, what are their likely playoff pitfalls?

“It’s obviously their natural production. But I’m really gonna look at one specific position; it’s going to be in the secondary…I think he’ll get most out of this secondary, but at some point you can only do so much,” Shumate said. Isaiah Hamilton is gone. Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen are gone too. Those aren’t just names; they were game-changers. Without them, it’s almost foolish to expect the defense to play as well as they did last year. The edge-rush pressure may take a dip, and with questions in the secondary, Pete Golding’s unit will have to be creative with schemes and substitutions.

Another pitfall? For Cole Thompson, the reason is simple: “Lane makes bad calls.”

On offense, the signs point to a step forward in efficiency. Much of last season’s struggles stemmed from inconsistency in play-calling and rhythm. With Simmons now in full command and surrounded by a crop of fresh, hungry wideouts, the unit looks more fluid. If the O-line can hold up and the tempo game returns to Kiffin’s liking, the Rebels could once again be one of the most explosive attacks in the SEC.

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Boom or bust? Setting the bar for Ole Miss in 2025

Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding went full throttle in the transfer portal again this offseason—because, of course, they did. That’s just how they roll in Oxford. But while the Rebels stocked up on talent, the million-dollar question remains: will it all click in time for another big run?

After two 10+ win seasons in the last three years, expectations have skyrocketed. And in many ways, that’s a great thing. As per Last Word On Sports, is it completely fair heading into 2025? On the front end, the answer is no, as per the assessment. The roster’s still meshing, and this year might be more of a bridge than a breakthrough.

That said, don’t count this team out just yet. Thanks to a favorable schedule, there’s real buzz that the Rebels could still “surpass expectations this season.” If things break just right, “the ceiling should be looking at an 11-1 season.” And let’s be honest—an 11-win year would have Oxford absolutely losing its mind in the best way possible.

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Now, on the flip side, the floor is a little scarier. “Roughly 7-5” feels like the bare minimum. Because if the wheels fall off and it dips below that? Let’s just say Oxford might be in for an epic meltdown.

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