Tight end Michael Trigg is settling in at Ole Miss, enjoying his work with QBs Altmyer and Dart
OXFORD, Miss. – When Michael Trigg transferred to Ole Miss, one of the first things many people noticed was his arms. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound former Southern California tight end has a tremendous wingspan.
But during his first Ole Miss press conference Tuesday, Trigg spoke of different arms – the open arms that welcomed him to Oxford and the arms that will be throwing him the ball.
“It’s kind of different coming from Cali,” Trigg said. But it’s a great place to focus, lock in.”
One of the people who has welcomed Trigg is fellow tight end Casey Kelly. Kelly has two years invested into the Ole Miss offensive system that is a new scheme for Trigg.
“It’s been wonderful honestly, because coming from USC you know I didn’t have to block as much,” Trigg said. “And moving to the SEC, I’m more in the trenches so with Casey like helping me, it’s perfect.”
Trigg will have a pair of talented arms throwing him the ball at Ole Miss. Luke Altmyer and Jaxson Dart, also a USC transfer, are vying for the starting quarterback job this spring. Trigg sees similarities in the two quarterbacks even though he is more familiar with Dart.
“They both have great arms. I mean me and Luke’s connection is going to get better over time…But me and Jaxson’s connection, I mean we’ve been together for a year so it’s going to be a difference. But I feel like me and Luke could get on that same page as well.”
Michael Trigg on QBs Luke Altmyer and Jaxson Dart
Getting on that same page with Altmyer started even before spring drills began for Trigg.
“Luke, actually, the day before signing day, I think, I was talking to Kiffin and then Luke hit me up…” Trigg said. “And I think it was my first week here, I was catching passes from Luke. I wasn’t even practicing with the team yet, we were still in the indoor (facility) throwing around and stuff, so everything’s perfect.”
With Dart, Trigg’s friendship began in the recruiting process before each headed to Los Angeles.
“When I was in high school, Jaxson hit me up like late in recruiting because you know he wasn’t really highly recruited until late in the season, and he committed a couple of weeks before signing day,” Trigg said. “And then we started talking, and then in our first fall camp practice we connected on a long ball — it was on like three people and then ever since then, we’ve been on the same page. We’ve always done extra work together; it’s just been like that.”
That closeness between Trigg and Dart showed in last Saturday’s scrimmage. Trigg made several catches, but one he caught from Dart stood out in his mind.
“I know I had one vertical when Jaxson put it on the linebacker’s head,” Trigg said. “I mean that’s what we practice honestly, so if me and Jackson are like chilling, we’ll go to the indoor and I’ll stand in that exact spot and he’ll put it in that exact spot and that’s the catch we’ll work on. So it’s like when we do it in practice, we’re like second nature and we just rep it over and over again.”
In addition to Trigg’s teammates who have lauded his size and skill, Coach Kiffin has also praised the newest tight end.
“I was trying to describe what it looks like when older guys played with younger guys, when there was the guy in high school playing with the junior high kids, that’s kind of how he plays. He’s not necessarily faster or quicker than everybody. But his ball control and his length looks like everyone’s younger. He’s a freshman but he looks like he’s older playing with younger guys.”
Coach Kiffin on Michael Trigg
Trigg was rated the No. 4 tight end recruit in the country out of high school as well as the No. 2 tight end in the transfer portal this offseason, according to 247Sports.
With Trigg at tight end, the 2022 Ole Miss offense can arm itself again for an explosive season.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
