Game within the game: Safeties Tennison, Young and Johnson have unique way of determining who starts for Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. – Before Ole Miss plays its game each Saturday, the Rebels must first find out the results of another contest, this one a friendly game to determine playing time at a certain position.
The Rebels (6-0, 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play) are fortunate to have a trio of safeties who could draw a starting assignment for most of the league’s teams. Unfortunately, the math does not compute. Ole Miss has three players for two starting positions.
So how does the Rebels’ coaching staff determine the starters? Is it additional film study? Is it evaluations during the week’s practice? Is it a decision on potential matchups with the next week’s opponent?
No. The Ole Miss coaches have settled on a more technical approach to determine which player gets the starting role.
The three players, Ladarius Tennison, Tysheem Johnson and Isheem Young, have a standing appointment each week for a battle of rock, paper, scissors.
Yes, in the world of analytics, the Rebels depend on a playground game to see who takes the field first.
“That’s just something that we were in a situation with three really good players that basically play two spots,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said earlier this week.
“We play a lot of plays on defense because of our offensive tempo. It’s very hard for anybody to play the whole game and play really fast. Those guys, we knew would end up playing, if there’s 80 plays, 60 between all of them. I just said, well, they can’t hold it against us which one starts, so let them play rock, paper, scissors every week. They can only blame themselves. It’s a classic. Because then they argue when one wins, they say best two out of three. It gets them arguing with each other, not us.”
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin
No matter which players are on the field, the Rebels’ secondary is going to get production.
- Johnson leads the way with 36 total tackles, 22 of them solo stops, three tackles for loss, one pass breakup, and one quarterback hurry.
- Tennison has 23 total tackles on the season, 11 solos, 4.5 tackles for loss, a sack, two defended passes, and he has recovered a pair of fumbles.
- Young also has 23 tackles, an interception and has recovered a fumble.
As successful as the three Rebels have been on the field, they still must be competitive in the three-way competition in rock, paper, scissors.
“I’m a rock guy,” Tennison said. “So, I always stay with rock.”
It seems to be a strategy Tennison has had for at least six weeks.
“It was pretty much even before we started the season,” Tennison said.
“We got three stud safeties, so this allows us to not fight over who goes in, so it’s pretty much fairness to who goes in.”
Ladarius Tennison
As for Kiffin, he has opted to stay out of the way when those three determine their playing rotation.
“I haven’t played that for a while,” Kiffin said. “The only time I guess I really have any more is with (his son) Knox, and then you’re not allowed to win because then it goes to best of five, it just keeps going. I don’t really have a go-to on that.”
What Kiffin does have is a triple go-to option for the Rebels’ safety position.
Many coaches would play rock, paper, scissors with Kiffin to have his luxury in the secondary.
Up Next
Ole Miss returns to action Saturday when the Rebels play Ole Miss. Kickoff in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is set for 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
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.
