OXFORD ― When Lane Kiffin settles into his headset on Aug. 31 for Ole Miss football's opener against Furman, he'll begin his 13th season as a head coach at the college level. With more than 10 additional years as an assistant, he's seen a few things.

That experience adds weight to the praise he directed toward his quarterback, Jaxson Dart, after the Rebels completed their third spring practice on Tuesday.

"I actually don't know that I've seen over time a player actively recruit more to put together a team on both sides of the ball than Jaxson did this offseason," Kiffin said. "That says a lot about him. Says a lot about him as a leader, and I've even said, potentially, someday as a head coach if he wants to be, because he has really special qualities and one of them is to get people to follow him."

The 2024 Rebels will be Dart's team. For the first time in an Ole Miss tenure that is entering its third year, Dart will not have competition for the starting quarterback spot. In truth, there was never much doubt about his candidacy to be the Rebels' 2023 starter. But labels matter, and Kiffin didn't name Dart his starting QB until after Ole Miss won its opener last season.

This time, there is no ambiguity. More than that, the 2024 Ole Miss team has been constructed ‒ at least partially ‒ thanks to Dart's influence.

"I think a number of guys would say (Dart impacted their decision), especially offensively," Kiffin said. "I think that the receivers would tell you that, Juice Wells. And I think even, not just portal guys, but even the guys that came back, like Tre (Harrs), like (Caden) Prieskorn. I think they would tell you that he recruited them really well, too."

The salesmanship was easy, Dart said. He just pointed toward what the Rebels accomplished last season.

Their 11 wins marked the most in school history, headlined by a convincing victory over Penn State in the Peach Bowl. When Dart met with players like Prieskorn and Harris, they reached the conclusion that there was more available for them to achieve in 2024. A lasting Ole Miss legacy sat within their reach, especially given the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams.

From behind a knowing smile. Dart did admit that he's a pretty good recruiter, though.

"How I see is it has nothing to do with what I have to say to somebody," Dart said."... I think it just comes down to people wanting to be a part of what we're building here. When you have that, it's pretty easy to talk to somebody and be like, 'Look, why wouldn't you come here? Why wouldn't you be a part of this? Why wouldn't you wanna come make history?' "

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And what about Kiffin's prediction that Dart could put his recruiting talent to use one day as a coach?

Well, he's not in a rush. Dart plans to wring as many years of football as he can out of his right throwing arm.

"We'll see," he said, laughing. "I see how much time they put into it. I got all the respect towards them...I think it's definitely appealing because I love the game."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Jaxson Dart's efforts helped Lane Kiffin build 2024 Ole Miss roster