Ole Miss announces hiring of Wes Neighbors III as Rebels’ new safeties coach
OXFORD, Miss. — On Tuesday evening, Ole Miss officially announced the hiring of Maryland safeties coach Wes Neighbors III to serve in the same capacity for the Rebels.
Head coach Lane Kiffin continues to rebuild his defensive staff this offseason after co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge and linebackers coach Maurice Crum were not retained. This past week, Ole Miss hired former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding for the same role on the Rebels’ staff.
Neighbors III heads to Oxford after a brief stay on the Terrapins coaching staff where he was hired last February. Prior to that, he served as the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns safeties coach in 2021 where he helped lead them to a 13-1 season and a Sun Belt Championship.
During Neighbors’ time in Lafayette, the Ragin Cajuns had one of the nation’s top defenses, ranking No. 14 in FBS passing yards allowed in 2021. During that time his defense only allowed 18.5 points per game and held eight of its 2021 season opponents to under 20.
Prior to joining the Cajuns’ coaching staff Neighbors spent the 2020 season in South Florida as the Bulls secondary coach.
Neighbors knows what it takes to work and build alongside Coach Kiffin as he was with him at both Alabama and FAU, serving as the safeties coach for the Owls from 2018-2019. With Neighbors coaching the FAU safeties, in 2019 the defense set a program record with 21 interceptions. They also led the nation in total takeaways (33), interceptions (22) and turnover margin (+21).
Success with the Tide
One of the most impressive parts of Neighbors’ resume is his time as a student-athlete and staff member in Tuscaloosa where he was part of five national championship Crimson Tide Teams in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
After a four years of dedicating his blood, sweat and tears to Alabama where he played safety for the national champions, he turned in his cleats for a coaching hat. He started out as a student assistant in 2011 and was later elevated to an off-field graduate assistant (2012-2013), a defensive intern (2013-2014), and then a defensive analyst in 2015.
Neighbors will brings an elite level of experience and will also serve as another solid defensive recruiter for the Rebs.
NEIGHBORS III COACHING CAREER
2011-12: Alabama (Student Assistant)
2013: Alabama (Defensive Intern)
2014: Alabama (Graduate Assistant)
2015-17: Alabama (Analyst)
2018-19: Florida Atlantic (Safeties)
2020: USF (Safeties)
2021: Louisiana (Safeties)
2022: Maryland (Safeties)
2023-Present: Ole Miss (Safeties)
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.
