Middle Tennessee head coach offers high praise for Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss football will play Middle Tennessee for the second time in their program history this coming weekend, with the last meeting in 2001. The Blue Raiders have a new head coach this season, Derek Mason, who started his tenure with a win in Week 1. It's not the first time these two will have looked across the sidelines at each other.

Back in 2020, during the stop-start COVID-19 season, Mason was the head coach of Vanderbilt, his seventh season with the Commodores. Unfortunately, it was his last, losing all nine games that season. Mason's Vanderbilt met Kiffin and Ole Miss in the fourth game of 2022, going down 54-21, with the Rebels offense putting up 641 offensive yards.

In 2021, he was the Auburn defensive coordinator who saw the Tigers beat Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss 31-20 but also saw the Rebels have 464 offensive yards. So when Mason spoke about Kiffin as an offensive mastermind, he experienced firsthand why he believed that.

"“I have to give (Kiffin) a lot of respect,” Mason said on Monday during his weekly press conference. “What we have to know and understand is that he’s one of the most respected offensive minds in college football. Him and Sark, those guys are terrific at being able to play the chess match of players. It’s not really your X’s and O’s, it’s how they find ways to get players the ball. Their best players will always get touches.”"

- Derek Mason on Kiffin

Mason knows how difficult this game will be for Middle Tennessee. However, Kiffin is aware that the Blue Raiders will also not be a pushover.

Lane Kiffin aware of dangers in Week 2 matchup with Middle Tennessee

Week 1 was certainly a confidence builder, despite playing against a team Ole Miss was expected to beat. The Rebels will be heavily favored again in Week 2 against Middle Tennessee, but Lane Kiffin won't be heading into the game expecting an easy ride.

""Just last year, they had Missouri down to the wire, so these guys have been in these types of situations. They are very well-coached, have a SEC head coach, and are the NFL defensive coordinator. They are really sound in what they do, so we will need to prepare this week and play really well at home.""

- Lane Kiffin at MTSU press conference

The Blue Raiders lost 23-19 to Missouri in Week 2 of the 2023 season. With six minutes on the clock, they had the ball in their hands at their own 45-yard line. The Tigers escaped with the win, but it shows that if you are not on it, any team can push you all the way. Kiffin isn't a coach who lets his players think like that, so preparation will be the same this week as if they were playing Georgia.