Ole Miss Announces Jake Thornton as Rebels’ New Offensive Line Coach
OXFORD, Miss. — Following a diligent search, the Rebels have found their man to take charge of the offensive line. Head coach Lane Kiffin announced Monday the hiring of former Alabama graduate assistant and current Gardner-Webb run coordinator and offensive-line coach Jake Thornton to join Ole Miss as its new assistant coach for the offensive line.
OFFICIAL: New coach in the 'Sip. Welcome @CoachThornton61
📰 https://t.co/xq1aMRKla1 pic.twitter.com/wMZb1xveRk
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) May 24, 2021
Thornton began his collegiate career in the Division II ranks at Carson-Newman before later transferring to Western Carolina in 2012. During his career, he notched 33 consecutive starts at center and was a strong presence in helping the Catamounts to consecutive seven-win seasons and finishing second in the Southern Conference.
In 2014 he was named first-team All-Southern Conference as a junior, playing in all 12 games with 11 starts. In 2015, he started all 11 games and was named and second-team All-SoCon.
Thornton began his coaching career in 2016 at his alma mater, Western Carolina, as an offensive quality control coach and assistant offensive line coach. During that season, the Catamounts accounted for 4,253 yards of total offense and helped their quarterback Tyrie Adams earn SoCon Freshman of the Year honors.
A stop in Tuscaloosa
It seems many of the nation’s best young coaches on the rise make a stop in Tuscaloosa, learning all they can from Nick Saban, and Thornton is no exception.
He made his stop in T-town in 2017 where he served as the Tide’s offensive line grad assistant on the 2017 National Championship team that finished 13-1. Some of the notable names that line featured were future NFL draftees Jonah Williams (2019 first round) and Ross Pierschbacher (2019, fifth round).
Thornton leads Tennessee Tech turnaround
Thornton furthered his coaching career, serving as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at FCS Tennessee Tech.
There, he made an immediate impact by helping lead one of the top turnarounds in 2019. His offense gained 4,501 yards that year, the second-highest total in the Golden Eagles’ program history. During that season, Thornton’s O-line protected one of the league’s most productive quarterbacks in Bailey Fisher.
While there, he coached some of the conference’s top players, including freshman All America guard Trevor Stephens and sophomore guard Mike Rhoades, who was a second-team All-OVC choice following the season. Stephens earned 2018 OVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2018 and was a finalist for the 2018 Jerry Rice Award List.
Thornton arrives in Oxford after spending the 2020 season as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Gardner-Webb.
Welcome to Oxford
Thornton’s strong ties in various roles on the offensive coaching side will help both on the field and on the recruiting trail. The hire couldn’t come at a more ideal time as the dead period will end June 1st and the nation’s top recruits will be making trips to Oxford for camps and more.
Thornton has a family history of gridiron success, as his grandfather Billy Shaw played guard for the Buffalo Bills, following a collegiate career at Georgia Tech, and became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Welcome to the ‘Sip, Coach! Are you ready?
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Lee Ann serves as the Director of Recruiting for The Rebel Walk. She sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
