Ole Miss Practice Report August 11: Rebels continue preparation for September 2nd season opener; we hear from coordinators

“Jaxson is so further ahead than he was at this point last year. I think people may underestimate having a year already in the system, knowing the plays, being very comfortable in the things that we’re operating right there and knowing the timing of the footwork to the drops and I think as he’s grown confidence in his play, he’s allowed himself to become a more vocal leader and take some ownership of the team and some of those things. So it’s been really cool to see, obviously.” 

“Well, it, it’s a beautiful thing to be honest with you. You don’t love doing it day one, you know what I’m saying? So, especially when you got a bunch of new guys, the benefit of it is that we don’t have to simulate it. It’s very hard when you start playing up-tempo teams in practice to be able to get a scout team to actually simulate the speed of that and still be able to execute. So it’s been awesome going against Coach Kiffin and Coach Weis every day. Not only how multiple they are formation wise, but the tempo that they play at, it really allows your guys to have to focus, beat ’em to the ball, get their cleats in the turf and execute and also makes you be a little more simple on defense. I think it can help our guys especially early to get their cleats in the turfs, see their key and play fast.”

“I mean obviously I recruited him at the last place (Alabama) as well. I always knew he was a really gifted athlete. I had him ranked as the top linebacker in the country, extremely explosive, really fast and has really good top end speed. I think it’s a struggle for young players that haven’t been in a college system, especially early, transitioning to being behind the ball, stacking, a lot of his high school tape was off the edge or having to read and diagnose the box…Obviously going into week one you go, ‘Hey, here’s our four calls that we’re working’  when you’re in a game and keep it pretty simple for him. But he’s done really well, he loves football, he’s a smart kid, he’s very engaged, he takes good notes. I think he has an extremely high skill that we’re excited about.”

“I think number one, (defensive line coach) Randall Joyner has does an extremely good job in that room. I think he does a good job from a recruiting standpoint. I think he does a better job at development and creating culture in that room. I think it’s one of the better rooms, especially on our side of the ball. I think we’ve brought in some good pieces to add to what was already here and a really good foundation up front of young guys that have experience that love football and that are very coachable. I think it’s by far the deepest position.”

“If you don’t have the ability to cover in the slot in this league, it’s gonna be a long night. The number one thing we were trying to improve was the length and speed ratio in the room, to be able to have the ability to play man-to-man when you need to and to be able to mix that up. I think the experience of the John Saunders of the world, the Daijahn Anthonys, like those were corners, they played corner where they were at and they were starters and they were good players and now they’re playing safety. It’s gonna look like you got four to five long, speed cover guys on the field.”

“The hardest challenge is you got four guys that, I feel, are very high quality football players that can win football games and you’ve gotta get all four of them ready to go and give all four opportunities to show to their teammates what they can do and to the coaches what they can do and what they can provide for the team. Just being able to manage those reps and opportunities for those guys has definitely been a challenge. It’s a very fun room to work with. I commend those guys for the group that we have. A lot of times you have that tension because of competition; I feel like those guys have been tremendous and handled it in a very mature way and they come in with the right mindset each and every day to get better.”

“There’s a bunch of those areas, but red zone is definitely one that we look to improve upon for sure. So excited to, to continue to grow in that area…it’s really good this year knowing who we have personnel-wise and having a much better understanding of our roster going into this season. There obviously are a lot of new players that we have, but a lot more continuity compared to last year. I think we got a really good understanding of where we are with those guys and finding stuff in the red zone to make sure that we use our people in the best situations.”