Ole Miss fills big area of need with commit from Louisville transfer linebacker Monty Montgomery
OXFORD, Miss. — Lane Kiffin and the Rebels have made another key pickup in the transfer portal. On Monday, Louisville linebacker Monty Montgomery announced he was entering the portal — and by Friday he had committed to play for Ole Miss.
Breaking: Monty Montgomery, 4 star LB transfer from Louisville committing to Ole Miss, a source tells @theScore. Came down to Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 20, 2023
Montgomery was granted a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA after suffering a torn right ACL in just the third game of the year in 2021. He has one season of eligibility remaining.
The former four-star recruit from Hutchison Community College (Kan.) was a member of the Cardinals’ 2017 recruiting class. He was ranked the No. 197 recruit in the nation, the No. 17 linebacker and the nation’s No. 49 recruit out of junior college.
His impact at Louisville cannot be understated. In 2022, Montgomery notched 70 total tackles, two pass deflections, six sacks, two interceptions and four forced fumbles.
Monty Montgomery forces a fumble that Louisville recovers. pic.twitter.com/ODI3tQwmOg
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) December 17, 2022
In his four-year career with Louisville, he amassed 160 tackles and 15 sacks.
Montgomery brings much-needed experience to the Ole Miss linebacker room. The Rebels recently lost Ashanti Cistrunk and Austin Keys to the transfer portal, so a LB who can enter and immediately play is critical.
Ole Miss will have Khari Coleman returning, joined by 2023 signee Suntarine Perkins. Ole Miss also signed Skielar Mann and Jakivuan Brown, so the addition of Montgomery makes this a very strong unit for new defensive coordinator Pete Golding and the Rebs.
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Herring-Olvedo 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.
