Ole Miss Football: Analyzing staff changes heading into 2022
Ole Miss football’s coaching staff led by Lane Kiffin replaced some key departures in his staff as the Rebels lost a handful of coaches this offseason.
The Ole Miss football team, led by head coach Lane Kiffin will have a revamped coaching staff after many departures in the coaching staff this offseason. After a successful 2021 season with a record of 10 wins, the Ole Miss coaching staff drew lots of attention from other universities.
The Rebels are losing coaches on all sides of the ball. But unfortunately, coaching changes are not uncommon. Even schools like Alabama go through changes every year. If the Rebels want to compete with Alabama, they must show they can replace their departures and not miss a beat next season as the Crimson Tide does yearly.
Ole Miss football lost offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and co-defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin. Lebby joins newly hired head coach Brent Venables at Oklahoma, while Durkin joins SEC West rival Texas A&M as the defensive coordinator.
The two coaches were instrumental to the success of Ole Miss last season. The two coordinators are enormous losses for the Rebels.
Lebby was a big reason the Ole Miss offense looked like it did. He runs a high-tempo offense that can put up points in just seconds. Ole Miss, which has always had a good offense, greatly benefited from the Lebby style of offense. Their offense was a must-watch during his time at Ole Miss.
Quarterback Matt Corral and Lebby also had a strong relationship with one another. Corral often gave high remarks about Lebby’s coaching and attributed his success to his offensive coordinator.
Along with offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby moving on, co-defensive coordinator D.J. Durin is leaving for another SEC school. Durkin turned an Ole Miss team that played only offense into a team that plays offense and defense. In past years, the most significant criticism of Ole Miss was its lack of a defense, which used to be one of its strengths. In 2021, Durkin had the team looking like its former Landshark self.
Durkin will be a huge miss on defense. He completely changed the scheme of the defense to a 3-2-6 and found huge success through this change. His coaching is part of the reason the Rebels finished third in the SEC this year.
Lebby and Durkin are not the only coaches leaving the Rebels this year. The Rebels are losing several positional coaches as well.
Other Notable Departures:
Kevin Smith, RB coach
Coleman Hutzler, Special Teams Coordinator
Terrell Buckley, Cornerbacks coach