Lane Kiffin lamented size, physicality in Ole Miss’ two losses in ’23, so size hunting he went

After both the Alabama and Georgia losses during the 2023 football season, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin basically told Ole Miss fans what his offseason goals for the Rebel program would be.

In essence, he said the Rebels got pushed around at the line of scrimmage and that both teams were bigger, more physical and in many cases faster than his guys.

Newton’s theory applies even in football – mass X velocity = force, with science way over a simple sportswriter’s head, but while I don’t understand Newton in the least, even I was bright enough to get what Kiffin was implying.

His comments boiled down to this – he would add beef to his roster in order to be better prepared to compete against the literal “giants” of the college football world.

And while Alabama is not on the 2024 schedule, Georgia is and it will be interesting to see if the Rebs have “caught up” some in regards to size and physicality. (We won’t know about speed until we actually see the players on the roster run in spring.)

One can certainly see from the results of the signing class and the transfer portal players inked that increased size was the intent.

Let’s start up front for proof positive.

The Ole Miss staff added four offensive linemen with girth to compete with anyone – tackle Diego Pounds at 6-foot-6 330 (pounds), guard Gerquan Scott at 6-foot-4 330, guard Nate Kalepo at 6-foot-6 325 and guard Julius Buelow at 6-foot-8 315.

When you combine them with tackle Micah Pettus at 6-foot-7 360, guard Jeremy James at 6-foot-5 305, tackle Jayden Williams at 6-foot-5 300 and center Caleb Warren at 6-foot-5 310, “where’s the beef?” answers itself.

Let’s do some speculating here for fun. If the starting offensive line in 2024 for Ole Miss turns out to be left tackle Pounds, left guard Kalepo, center Warren, right guard James and right tackle Pettus, which seems quite possible, the average size of the o-line will be 6-foot-6 in height and 326 pounds in weight.

An average of 6-6 326 can compete all day long from a size standpoint. Mission accomplished up front on offense.

At defensive tackle, the Rebels added Walter Nolen to go along with J.J. Pegues at 6-foot-2 315, Joshua Harris at 6-foot-4 325, Zxavian Harris at 6-foot-7 335 and “little guy” Akelo Stone at 6-foot-2 280.

Nolen is the intriguing one in this deal because we have always seen him listed at 6-foot-4 with his weight being upwards to 345. On the current Ole Miss roster, however, Walter is listed at 290. Which is it? Either way, the film we watched of him at Texas A&M indicates he plays big enough regardless of his actual weight. He comes off the ball hard and penetrates the line of scrimmage almost every snap in the clips we saw.

The size angle is not limited to linemen either.

The Rebels also added two 235-pound linebackers in Arkansas transfer Chris “Pooh” Paul and JUCO Raymond Collins to go along with 230-pound T.J. Dudley already on the roster. It’s a position on the defense, in this opinion, that’s been a little light in the britches. With these additions, linebacker instantly got thicker and likely more physical by default.

At corner, Ole Miss added 6-foot-3 Amorion Walker from Michigan. Long, rangy corners are always at a premium. 6-foot-1 Trey Amos from Alabama is also taller than the average corner.

At defensive end, freshman Kam Franklin is a healthy 6-foot-6 265 to go along with Florida transfer Princely Umanmielen at 6-foot-5 255 and returning senior Jared Ivey at 6-foot-5 265.

And last, but not least, Virginia Tech tight end Da’Quan Wright gives that position another 250-pounder to go along with 255-pound Caden Prieskorn.

Lane Kiffin lamented the physical aspects of the only two losses on the Rebel worksheet in 2023.

His staff took his comments to heart in recruiting and in the portal with the Rebels getting bigger.

Will it pay off against the more physical teams in 2024?

Stay tuned. . . .

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