‘You Know How They’ve Been Trained’ | Transfer DB Trey Amos Brings the Saban Experience to Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — When former Alabama coach Nick Saban decided to leave the helm of the Crimson Tide earlier this year, that left a lot of decisions for the crew left in Tuscaloosa.
Should they remain with Bama or ride the tide out of town?
Five Alabama players took a route toward the Gulf of Mexico and headed south to Florida State. But one player decided he would be happier near the Mississippi River as defensive back Trey Amos came to Ole Miss.
“When the news broke out Coach Saban was leaving, I had some doubts (about staying at Alabama) like anyone else would,” Amos said. “Then I ended up making that decision based on like me, myself, my family, so once I entered the transfer portal I started to think like where should I choose and where I would best fit and be more comfortable,” he explained earlier this week.
He also got advice from Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding who served under Saban at Alabama.
It was a familiar conversation as Golding had recruited Amos out of high school in New Iberia, La. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound cornerback chose to attend Louisiana before transferring to Alabama to play his 2023 season.
“Pete Golding, we had a lot of talks. He always gave me backlash about how I should have picked (Ole Miss) first. We always clown about that.“
Trey Amos on Coach Golding
Even before Amos arrived in Oxford, he was on another ship’s radar. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin knew all about him.
“We had looked at him before and really thought he was a special and unique player, well before Pete’s background with him,” Kiffin said.
“And now this time around, having Pete here and I think a relationship played into that, but I think he is a really good player and has a phenomenal work ethic, phenomenal culture guy and I think too when we end up hiring assistant coaches, like Joe Cox and some people over from Alabama, you know what you’re getting from Coach Saban. I think when you can get players (from Bama) but especially (defensive backs) you know how they’ve been trained and what they’re used to so I think that also helps in this instance.“
Lane Kiffin on Trey Amos
Yes, apart from manning the stern at Alabama, Saban would also get down in the trenches and coach defensive backs. That impressed Kiffin in regards to Saban’s products in all aspects of the game.
“When you spin that forward to a player, especially a defensive back, you know obviously they’ve been coached really well, but you also know their mindset. That’s a big deal –someone coming in your program that has already been trained with an elite mindset versus someone coming in from some other places where you have to work them out of some different mindsets.”
Lane Kiffin on players who were coached by Nick Saban
Amos believes not only Saban improved his game, but the other Crimson Tide players did as well.
“Learning from Coach Saban and all those other guys and playing behind Kool-Aid (McKinstry) and Terrion Arnold, I learned a lot,” Amos said.
“And I’m going to forever carry that, not only on the field but off the field because I feel that’s going to go far in the long term so I always keep that in my head from what I learned from Coach Saban and how hard work always like going to work and like you’re going to make it far dealing with that,” Amos added.
As much as Saban’s influence has inspired players, coaches have also ridden his sail to bigger and better things.
This year’s staff has coaches with Saban and Alabama ties. Joe Cox, Wes Neighbors, Golding and Kiffin, himself, have benefited under Saban’s command.
“There’s a lot of people over the years (who worked under Saban), whether it’s bigger roles as assistant coaches or analyst roles or weight-room coaches,” Kiffin said.
“I just think Coach Saban is so special in the culture and how people were trained there. I used to interview people and err on the side of hiring people that you knew what you were getting because you knew he had trained them. There’s going to be another one here, I think, in the next day or two of a name you’re going to know really well and that is going to be the same situation.”
Lane Kiffin on hiring people who have worked for Saban
Saban may have sailed into the sunset of retirement, but he has left a steady crew to follow in his wake.
The ones at Ole Miss will begin their voyage Aug. 31, against Furman in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
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.
