Ole Miss transfers making their presence felt in a big way this season
OXFORD, Miss. – College football coaches have long been identified by their style of dress. Bear Bryant had a signature houndstooth hat. Jim Tressel wore a sweater vest at Ohio State. At Penn State, Joe Paterno was known for his horned-rimmed glasses and wearing cleats on the sideline.
At Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin’s style is kind of a billboard. He always seems to send a message.
At Monday’s press conference, the third-year coach wore a hoodie that read, “Transfer to the Sip.”
That is a not-so-subtle message to college football players that if they are not happy in their current situations, Ole Miss might be a good destination. And why not? Players have found much success since Kiffin arrived, heading to Oxford in the transfer portal, and it appears they are having fun playing for the Rebels.
Oxford is a great place to live. Ole Miss is a great school. And if word-of-mouth is a great advertisement, more players could flock to Lafayette County.
Just this season, there are 17 players on the roster who played somewhere else last year. Those other schools include this week’s opponent Georgia Tech, along with TCU, SMU, Western Kentucky, Central Michigan, Auburn and even Mississippi State.
Not only are those players on the roster, but they also contribute – especially in last week’s 59-3 win over Central Arkansas.
“(I was) pleased with a lot of the new players, where in Week 1, there were some ups and downs with those guys. Outside of Luke’s (Altmyer) short run, every touchdown run, every touchdown pass, every touchdown reception, every return for a touchdown and every kick was made by a portal player from this offseason. That’s a lot of guys doing right for 59 points. Good place to transfer to.”
Coach Lane Kiffin on impact of transfers
Defensively, Georgia Tech transfer Jared Ivey, JJ Pegues, Ladarius Tennison, along with linebackers Troy Brown and Khari Coleman have all stepped up in their first year with the Rebels. The linebacking corps has been a nice surprise for Kiffin.
“All the tension with you guys (the media) was mostly on the quarterback and what was going to happen with those guys and how were they going to play,” Kiffin said. “To me, it was that on offense but this on defense. We basically play with two linebackers only now, so these two spots that these four guys who have played in there, two of which are brand new, has been great.”
Offensively there have been changes as well. Southern Cal transfer quarterback Jaxson Dart has completed 28-of-42 passes in about one game of work, Zach Evans, who came from TCU, has averaged nearly six yards per carry and tight end Michael Trigg, who came with Dart from USC, has a team-high three touchdown catches.
The new kicker, Jonathan Cruz from Charlotte, has hit all his extra points and drilled his only field-goal attempt from 41 yards. Punter Fraser Masin has averaged 43 yards per kick and killed three inside the 20 and forced three fair catches.
But this week is a bit of a departure for the new players. For the first time this season, the Rebels will take to the road to battle Georgia Tech in Atlanta at 2:30 p.m.
Kiffin expects his team’s talent to overcome any travel issues.
“It’s just really travel and focusing on what we need to focus on and not get out of whack because you’re in a different stadium,” Kiffin said. “I guess the game’s on ABC or whatever. These guys understand none of that matters. They just need to perform really well, which we have at times. Like I said, it’s a very talented room of players. Probably collectively, from a lot of numbers, our most talent in our three years of being here—maybe not the superstars, but they have a long way to go.”
Ole Miss returns to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Sept. 24 to host Tulsa. Monday that game time was announced as kicking off at 3 p.m. and will air on the SEC Network.
(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.
