Lane Kiffin is the new coach at Ole Miss, and now that he’s back in the SEC, he’ll try to turn the program around after a decline following recent NCAA penalties.

But, when you have to try to recruit against national powerhouses like Alabama, Georgia, LSU and others in the SEC, how do you sell recruits on Ole Miss?

Appearing on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Wednesday, Kiffin said he tries to sell recruits on starting something special at Ole Miss as opposed to going somewhere that is already on top of the mountain. He also took a playful shot at Alabama OC Steve Sarkisian, saying anyone could have called plays with all that talent on Alabama’s offense in 2019:

“The SEC’s the strongest it has ever been. … Look at the draft. You have to go play Alabama. They had 4 offensive players (taken) in the first 15 picks of the draft. I called Sark and I said ‘Your son could have called plays last year with that roster.’

“To recruit against them, just like when we were at Tennessee, you have to come in and say ‘Hey, we’re starting something new. Do you want to come in at the front of something and probably play a lot more as a freshman than you would if you went to one of those programs and start something special versus coming to something that is already on top or on the way down?”

Ole Miss currently has 3 recruits in its 2021 class, which only ranks No. 51 nationally at the moment, per 247Sports. However, it is still early. For example, Alabama’s class is only No. 46 right now.

Will Kiffin’s message resonate with recruits? We’ll find out over the next few months.