Ole Miss finished the 2023 season spectacularly, losing only two games under their head coach, Lane Kiffin. As he enters his fifth season as the Rebels HC in 2024, he has set high expectations for fans. Most of his confidence for this season is because of the return of his secret weapon, Jaxson Dart.

After starting for two seasons at Ole Miss, Jaxson Dart announced that he’d be returning to Oxford for another season to give another try at clinching a College Football Playoff appearance. His return influenced several other key players to return for another season, including DT Walter Nolen, WR Tre Harris, and TE Caden Prieskon. And as the Rebels gear up for the 2024 season, Coach Lane Kiffin turns the spotlight to his valuable player.

Lane Kiffin and Jaxson Dart share a mutual appreciation for each other

There is no denying it. Coach Lane Kiffin and his star quarterback, Jaxson Dart, have a mutual appreciation and admiration for each other. His fondness for the 20-year-old and the regard that he receives back is evident in his latest post on X, where he posted a picture of Dart smiling at his HC. He captioned the photo, “I hope everyone someday finds someone that looks at them like…” 

Jaxson Dart was one of the reasons why the 48-year-old HC was able to lead the Ole Miss Rebels to an 11-2 record last season, winning the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game against Penn State. According to Kiffin, Dart is a key recruiter for the 2024 season and influences both sides of the ball. He said, “I 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 off-season… He has really special qualities, and one of them is to get people to follow him.” And he’s not just influencing the football field and players.

Jaxson Dart is the first to sign a private jet NIL deal

In February, Jaxson Dart broke the NIL record, becoming the first college player to sign a deal with a private jet company, Nicholas Air. It is a private aviation company founded in 1997 and headquartered in Oxford, Mississippi. Per the deal done by sports marketing agency ESM, Dart can enjoy the service of the company’s jets for “travel, training, and philanthropy.” 

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Jaxson Dart finished last season with a 65.1 completion percentage, 3,364 yards, 23 TDs, and five interceptions in 13 games. His hype at Ole Miss also comes from the fact that he’s the only quarterback in the program to throw for 350 yards in a bowl game. He surpassed that mark twice by completing 379 yards and 361 yards in 2023 and 2022, respectively. The upcoming season will be a potentially successful season for Dart, who ESPN ranked as the top-six quarterback in college football for 2024.

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