Here’s our first-year report card for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss

In a year beginning with holding a baby on a tarmac, Lane Kiffin’s first season in Oxford has been an eventful one.

He went from navigating his first year at the helm of an SEC West program to having to do that in the midst of a worldwide pandemic with no spring practice and very limited fall action. Kiffin stepped up to the plate and led the Rebels through an all-SEC slate and an Outback Bowl victory over No. 11 Indiana, finishing 5-5 on the year.

The offense was fun, the defense was far less fun, but, as a whole, Ole Miss football is finally back on the right trajectory, and fans in and around Oxford are buzzing with excitement for where that trajectory might lead.

After three years of pain during the Matt Luke administration (some of which was due to the NCAA, the rest of which was due to coaching incompetence), it’s refreshing for Ole Miss fans to be excited about football again. Football is fun, and when Ole Miss is good, it’s even more fun. Ole Miss is good again, or, at least, very close to good again.

We here at Red Cup sat down virtually and gave our final grades on Lane Kiffin’s first season at Ole Miss. As I said above, it was a difficult season to navigate, what with COVID and an all-SEC schedule, but Ole Miss came out pretty strong in the end, and these grades reflect that.

Here’s how the staff graded Mr. Kiffin:

Grayson Weir: B+

Bob Lynch: A-

Two Yards and A Cloud of Enricky: B+

JMake (me): A-

Gray Hardison: A-

Whiskey Wednesday: A

Juco All-American: B

Zach Berry: B+

One Man to Beat: B+

Average grade: Between a B+ and A-

So what’s your grade for our playsheet flingin’, jet flyin’, kiss stealin’ son of a gun coach? Comment below or tweet @redcuprebellion with your Kiffin report card after year one.