CFB insiders back Ole Miss and HC in 2024 as Rebels prepare for CFP glory: "Lane Kiffin may really be vindicated this year"

ESPN analysts Rece Davis and Pete Thamel have given their verdict: Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss Rebels are going to be one of the teams that clinch a spot in this year's College Football Playoff. They shared their belief during Sunday's episode of the "College GameDay Podcast."

"Lane may really be vindicated this year in the SEC because he's had great offenses, he's had good teams, he's done a really good job there," Davis said. "But now, he's shored up the defensive front... most notably Walter Nolen coming from Texas A&M to Ole Miss. Obviously, I think they're going to be really, really good on offense. I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, man: I think Ole Miss makes the playoff."

Thamel echoed Davis' statement and added that both the team and their head coach have utilized NIL as a way to improve their program.

"Give Ole Miss credit as a program and as an athletic department," Thamel said. "They saw NIL as an equalizer to get them out of what they have been historically in the bottom half of SEC teams. They have been aggressive, and they've almost used it as a flex to show how much they care. They really, really have gone all-in."

The Rebels will open the season by playing against the FCS Furman Paladins on August 31.

Lane Kiffin criticized Paul Finebaum at SEC Media Days for past remarks

Whenever the Ole Miss Rebels coach takes the microphone in his hand, it's a field day for fans, analysts and reporters. Unlike other coaches who are often tight-lipped about their life and the inner workings of their job, Kiffin never holds back and has often discussed even his marital issues with the media.

At last week's SEC Media Days, Kiffin spoke with ESPN CFB analyst Paul Finebaum on the latter's SEC Network show. The Rebels coach did not let the pundit go easy and recalled the comments Finebaum made 11 years ago while Kiffin was the HC of the USC Trojans.

“It is a true story that the athletic director and the president were on that trip,” Kiffin said. “We were playing that night and you were on ‘College GameDay’ and you had to make your big splash... And you said what a joke I was, I’m the Miley Cyrus of college football coaching and I should be fired. They looked at each other and later that night, I was fired.”

Despite all the shots that Finebaum threw his way in the past, Kiffin was thankful for his remarks. If he wasn't fired from USC in 2013, he wouldn't have taken a job under Nick Saban and he wouldn't have become the coach of the Rebels.