Ole Miss former player, recruiting assistant Jonathan Hess to compete on ‘The Bachelorette’
OXFORD, Miss. — Former Ole Miss tight end Jonathan Hess is hoping to create a spark on the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette.”
Hess, a Vestavia, Hill, Ala. native who played for Ole Miss from 2018-2022, now serves on the Rebel football staff as a recruiting assistant and is well-known for creating the tradition of spraying a fire extinguisher when Ole Miss scores a touchdown.
For the NFL > college football crowd: I’ll have you know that Ole Miss tight end Jonathan Hess would’ve picked up a taunting penalty in the league for blowing a celebratory fire extinguisher on the sidelines pic.twitter.com/tf2uzwJSa3
— Simon Gibbs (@SimonGibbs26) October 17, 2021
At Tuesday’s spring football press conference, Coach Kiffin was asked about Hess’ participation on the upcoming reality show.
“I knew for a while, but wasn’t supposed to say anything I guess,” Kiffin said.
“Hess was really excited about it. Actually Laundry, my daughter, had something to do with how they wrote into his thing (submission video) that they turn in. She was kind of fired up for him. Her and her friends were like ‘Hess, you can do this!’ They watched the show. Last night, there were like 10 on my couch watching The Bachelorette. It’ll be interesting. I kind of feel like it’s like the basketball tournament, I feel like if you can make it and get momentum going and get past the beginning to where people see a lot of them, he’s got a chance because of his personality.”
Coach Kiffin on Jonathan Hess’ participation in The Bachelorette
His former head coach talked about whether he watches the show.
“I used to be (exposed to The Bachlorette) a long time ago, probably when it started. I out-grew it. Then life comes back around. Now, Landry and her friends, freshmen come over. They come rolling in five minutes before, ready to watch it. They talk about it, so I see a little bit of it.”
Kiffin thinks Hess will be fine on the show but just needs an opportunity to showcase his personality.
“I was asked this in the QB meeting this morning like what would (he need to do) and I said, ‘Just his Hess-isms. It’s just Hess.’ But I think they’re going to need enough time to see that come out,” Kiffin explained.
The season’s premiere date has not been announced. Best of luck to Hess!
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
