Ole Miss’ Charlie Weis Enters 2024 as Highest-Paid SEC Offensive Coordinator, Fifth-Highest in Nation
OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss offense is always fun to watch, with fans looking forward for each opportunity to see head coach Lane Kiffin launching his clipboard in the air or racing down the sidelines with his arms raised in celebration.
While Kiffin is known as one of the most brilliant offensive playcallers in the country, he also has the benefit of having offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. alongside him on the sidelines. Together, the two have built an offensive juggernaut that looks to be one of the nation’s best this coming season, Weis’ third year with Coach Kiffin at Ole Miss.
During this offseason, Weis Jr. received a $250,000 pay raise, increasing his annual salary to $1.65 million. He is now the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the SEC and the No. 5-highest in the entire nation.
Highest Paid Offensive Coordinators in College Football💰 pic.twitter.com/2eMkMJtofE
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 23, 2024
Notre Dame’s Mike Denbrock ($2.1 million), Ohio State’s Chip Kelly ($2.0 million), Utah’s Andy Ludwig ($1.8 million), Clemson’s Garrett Riley ($1.7 million) and the Rebels’ Weis round out the top five highest-paid coordinator in the country.
In the SEC, the highest paid OCs behind Weis Jr. are: Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino ($1.5 million), Missouri’s Kirby Moore ($1.5 million), and Georgia’s Mike Bob ($1.4 million).
Last season, Ole Miss won 11 games, the most in program history, with the Rebels’ offense averaging 35.08 points per game and 461 yards per game, en route to finishing No. 3 in the league in both categories behind only LSU and Georgia.
In 2023, Weis’ Rebels were the lone team in the SEC — and one of just three in the FBS — with three 700-yard receivers in 2023. Tre Harris (54 catches, 985 yards, eight TDs), Dayton Wade (55 catches, 830 yards, four TDs) and Jordan Watkins (53 catches, 741 yards, three TDs) paced by the explosive offense led by quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Harris and Watkins return, along with the very talented Cayden Lee and Ayden Williams who will both be sophomores. Dart returns for his third season with Coach Kiffin and Weis and is among the top names on the board for 2024 Heisman Trophy contenders.
Additionally, the damage the Rebels did in the transfer portal is astounding as the newcomers give Ole Miss the No. 1-ranked portal class in the nation for 2024.
To Weis’ arsenal, the Rebs have added wide receivers Antwane “Juice” Wells from South Carolina and the nation’s No. 1 JUCO recruit and former LSU Tiger, Deion Smith. They have also added Devin Price and Jarnorris Hopson through the portal, as well as bringing in Class of 2024 four-star wide receiver Noreel White.
Weis’ running back room, led by Ulysses Bentley IV and Henry Parrish Jr., is loaded and will have the benefit of a Rebel offensive line that brings back experienced players across the board, such as Jeremy James, Micah Pettus, Eli Acker, and Caleb Warren, and will be joined by transfers Diego Pounds (North Carolina) as well as Julius Buelow and Nate Kalepo, two members of the Washington Huskies o-line that was named the best in the nation last season.
At tight end, Ole Miss returns Caden Prieskorn, one of the tops in the country and the Offensive MVP of the Peach Bowl, who will be joined by returnee Hudson Wolfe, Virginia Tech standout transfer Dae’Quan Wright, and Dillon Hipp who will be an incoming freshman.
It’s truly hard to imagine, at least on paper, how this Ole Miss offense will be slowed down. Don’t you know Coach Weis and Coach Kiffin are eagerly awaiting kickoff, and with all those weapons, who could blame them.
Ole Miss begins the 2024 season against Furman on August 31 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
David Walker
David is the consummate true-freshman quarterback, first pioneering the position only a year after college freshmen were given varsity eligibility by the NCAA in 1972. In 1973, the left-handed all-state gunslinger from Sulphur, Louisiana started for the Texas A&M Aggies and earned the All-Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year award as selected by the league’s coaches. David is the first college quarterback ever awarded Freshman of the Year in the NCAA. He was only 17, and still holds the NCAA record as the youngest starting quarterback in college football history. He wore No. 8 at A&M in honor of one of his football heroes, Archie Manning.
In becoming the winningest quarterback ever at A&M, David was converted from a dual-threat QB to a triple option trailblazer. The two-time team captain led three record-breaking offenses that changed the direction of football at A&M forever, establishing once and for all the winning tradition that the Aggies had so-long desired.
As a high school head coach in Houston in the late ‘80s, David stationed his quarterback in the shotgun formation, having him reading defenses and throwing hot routes at a time when such offensive schemes were frowned upon by traditional fans and coaches. One of his quarterbacks tossed 57 passes in a single game, which stood as the all-time Greater Houston Area record for many years.
As you can tell from his bona fides, David is extremely qualified as our expert on all things Quarterback at Ole Miss. Enjoy his exclusive analysis only here at The Rebel Walk!
