Twenty-Two Names to Know for the Ole Miss Season: No. 4 Princely Umanmielen
OXFORD, Miss. – As we lead up to week one in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the kickoff of Ole Miss football’s 2024 season, The Rebel Walk team is highlighting one player each day for our ‘Ole Miss 22’ rankings. We’ll break down who they are, how they got here, and what we expect from each.
Today, we take a look at the No. 4 player on the list, defensive lineman Princely Umanmielen.
Back in December, Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding garnered the commit of Florida’s Umanmielen, the No. 3 overall player in the portal.
Go time pic.twitter.com/lh6LTcS165
— Princely Umanmielen (@d1princely) December 15, 2023
How did Umanmielen arrive at Ole Miss?
After Ole Miss lost to Georgia last year in Athens, Coach Kiffin knew his team needed to get bigger and stronger up front. He and his staff set out on that goal and acquiring players like Princely became key.
“We’ve talked in here about the Georgia game,” Kiffin explained. “A big thing was, let’s go out in the portal and get guys. Watching Princely, it really was like here’s somebody who has really ideal size, length, and speed to be a really good player. It’s good to have him, and you can see it out there, his length really shows up,” he added.
In 2023, the Manor High School (Manor, Texas) native started all 12 games for the Gators and led their defense with 11.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and 17 quarterback hurries. He also posted back-to-back seasons with 39 total tackles, which turned out to be the most on the Gator defensive line this past season.
Princely Umanmielen is a prototype modern edge rusher with unfair length, strength, and explosiveness.
He generated 45 pressures and 7 sacks in 2023 and will look to DOMINATE with Ole Miss in 2024 👀 pic.twitter.com/6dt0BKCwqA
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) May 14, 2024
Following the 2023 season, Princely was also named to the Coaches All-SEC Second team.
From the moment that Umanmielen entered the portal, Rebels’ defensive line coach Randall Joyner and defensive coordinator Pete Golding were in constant communication with the stud. The Rebs were able to get him in town for a visit where they quickly closed the deal.
Career Outlook
Umanmielen – a member of the Bednarik Award preseason watch list – enters his first season at Ole Miss as another key addition in the Rebels’ No. 1 rated transfer class. In his four-year career with Florida, Umanmielen amassed 24.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in 45 career games.
After his arrival at Ole Miss, Princely told us earlier this spring that there’s a distinct difference in the way he has been coached so far, crediting Lead Analyst Lou Spanos and defensive line coach Randall Joyner for the advice they’ve provided.
“At Florida, the way I was coached, it was almost as if they were telling me to go out there and use my talent,” Princely explained.
“Here, Coach Lou and Coach Joyner are really on me about the little things. Coach Lou goes through the progressions of the drops and the routes that are being run when I have to go into coverage. When I was at Florida, they would tell me to go drop to this area, and I would have to figure everything else out on my own. Here, they go real into depth, I feel like I’m actually getting developed.”
Princely Umanmielen on the coaching he’s received at Ole Miss
Fall camp and the 2024 season
Umanmielen went through his first fall camp in an Ole Miss uniform while recovering from shoulder surgery that occurred earlier in the spring. Amid his recovery, Princely has been limited in practice, avoiding drills that involve physical contact. Despite not being a full participant, Umanmielen ensured everyone that the odds of him missing any game time on the field this season are extremely low.
“I don’t think anything is going to refrain me from playing in any game, but it’s a day-by-day thing for sure.”
Princely Umanmielen
Umanmielen has drawn high praise from Pro Football Focus as PFF’s Max Chadwick sees the Rebel edge rusher as one of the best in college football.
Princely Umanmielen is one of the best in the country🗣️ pic.twitter.com/wOlCvIuqXl
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 1, 2024
Princely Umanmielen is a prototype modern edge rusher with unfair length, strength, and explosiveness.
He generated 45 pressures and 7 sacks in 2023 and will look to DOMINATE with Ole Miss in 2024 👀 pic.twitter.com/6dt0BKCwqA
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) May 14, 2024
Analyst Andy Staples commented on the addition of Umanmielen to the Rebels’ defense.
“I think the addition of Princely Umanmielen on the edge will allow Walter Nolen to get some singled-up shots in the interior and they are going to cause havoc for opposing offenses.”
Up Next
Tune in to see the Rebels open the season against Furman this Saturday, August 31. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
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.
