BOOM! 4-star 2025 Safety Ladarian Clardy Commits to Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss kicked off Saturday with a monster commitment from 4-star 2025 safety Ladarian Clardy, out of Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida, who announced his pledge to the Rebels via his Instagram live this afternoon.
This has been one of the most anticipated commitments of the class. The 5-foot-10.5, 175-pound Clardy stands as the No. 15 safety and No. 22 athlete to come out of the Sunshine state.
Clardy recently picked up an offer from LSU, his “dream school,” as he referred to them. Prior to that, his five finalists were: Ole Miss, Washington, Florida State, UCF and Vanderbilt.
This is another down-t0-the-wire win for Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin on the recruiting trail as Clardy was holding well over 43 offers, but at the end of the day those could not supersede the bond that was built between Clardy and the Ole Miss Rebels.
Clardy — and his family — had taken a number of visits to Ole Miss throughout his recruitment.
In an open letter penned to the Pensacola News Journal yesterday, Clardy writes about the importance of a relationship in his search for a school:
“With my top schools, all my boxes are filled. It’s not mandatory that I play early, but I’m looking at schools where I have the best shot to get on the field early. I’m a relationship type of guy. That’s a main thing to me. Feeling wanted, just chopping it up. When I’m talking to coaches, it’s not just about football. Sometimes, it’s just how life is going.”
Ladarian Clardy in the Pensacola News Journal
— Ladarian Clardy (@_ladarian34) July 10, 2024
While Clardy had been set to announce his commitment on August 3, he changed the date to September 21, a significant date in his life. His older brother, who played college football at Kennesaw State, passed away on September 21, following his birthday on September 20.
Ladarian was the 2023 Pensacola News Journal Defensive Player of the Year, recording 57 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, four interceptions and eight passes defended in 12 games last season.
Through his first three games as a senior, Clardy has notched 18 total tackles, one interception and one forced fumbled for Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida, according to his MaxPreps player profile.
Check out my highlight😟🔥 @NinoFreeman8 pic.twitter.com/zcJs55VUKK
— Ladarian Clardy (@_ladarian34) September 14, 2024
In his story in the Pensacola News Journal, Clardy talks about each of the schools on his list of finalists. About Ole Miss, he writes:
“I love how they can just go in the portal. They want the best guys to compete for a national championship every year. For those guys to come together from different schools – it’s different styles and personalities – and for them to bond together in just a couple months, the way they get after it, that’s what I love. Also, coach Lane Kiffin, too. That’s my guy.”
Ladarian Clardy on Ole Miss
Clardy brings the Rebels’ commitments for 2025 to 17.
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Lee Ann serves as the Director of Recruiting for The Rebel Walk. She sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
