Princely Umanmielen’s faith is meaningful part of his routine and his success at Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss edge rusher Princely Umanmielen talked with the media Monday following the team’s practice. He discussed the 63-31 win over Arkansas, of course, but he also spoke of something very near and dear to his heart, his faith.
He was asked how he’s had such a successful year and to what he attributes that.
“Just keeping my trust in Jesus Christ and God. Just actually giving myself a routine, (too). On some days I might not leave the facility until — I’ll go home during the day, but then I’ll come back around 6 or 7 — 9-9:30. Just keeping the routine and keeping my trust and having a good relationship with God.“
Princely Umanmielen on his success this season
The defensive line dominates
In the win over the Razorbacks, the Rebels’ defensive line recorded eight sacks and scored the first points of the game on a fumble recovery after a failed 4th-and-1 attempt from the Ole Miss offense on the prior series. Princely talked about the mindset shared by he and his teammates in the trenches.
“We love things like that as a defense. If the offense is ever starting off slow, we embrace it on the defense, we tell each other, ‘It’s gonna be on us,’ even though the offense had a great game. As a defense, we embrace it. We love those tough situations, we want the pressure to be on us.”
– Umanmielen on the defensive mindset
Ole Miss EDGE Princely Umanmielen (#1) was unblockable against Oklahoma. Prototype size on the edge (6036v, 258v) with impressive bend and closing speed.
One of the better pure pass rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/4dg5iWL08n
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) November 1, 2024
On top of their eight sacks versus Arkansas, the Rebs are now No. 1 in the country in sacks with 41, notching 18 in their last two games. Proving to be such a dominant force, Umanmielen discussed why he believes the unit has enjoyed so much success.
“It’s a mixture of how much talent and coaching we get. The crazy part is even though we had eight sacks against Arkansas, we could have had more. We still make little mistakes…we could be better than what we are.”
– Umanmielen on the success of the defensive line
A closer relationship with God
Taking a closer look at the statistics across the D-line, Umanmielen has 7.5 sacks — despite missing parts of the Kentucky game and nearly the entire LSU game. Having dealt with an ankle injury against Kentucky and LSU, a preseason shoulder tweak, and now a common cold, Umanmielen offered up the one word to describe his season thus far — and how he has overcome that with his faith.
“A lot of people don’t know, but my whole football career, I never had injuries. If I was to write a book for this season, for me, I would call it ‘Adversity’ because I’ve never had — coming into the season before the season started I had a shoulder (injury), even though I was able to be healthy with the shoulder before the season started. Then I had the high ankle sprain — I’m sick right now (with a cold). It’s been really my first time having them (injuries), but when I was walking on it — the way I play defense, I like bend the edge. That’s the ankle (previously hurt). Some positions they could deal with it a little better, but in my position that’s like really hard on me. It was really tough on me mentally, but just going back to God again and keeping my trust and faith in Him. I came back even stronger.”
– Umanmielen on adversity
Back like I never left. Shoutout Jesus christ
— Princely Umanmielen (@d1princely) October 26, 2024
In talking about deeper about his faith, Princely elaborated on his relationship with God and how his mother helped him feel called to have an even stronger relationship with God.
“In the past, throughout these four years, my mom won’t let me go into a game without calling me and praying for me. That was a big thing. I think this season I really took it upon myself to find a closer relationship with God rather than just having my mom pray for me all the time. I really took it upon myself to make changes to my life, so I can have that closer relationship to God. I still call her to this day so we can pray before the game, but I just took it upon myself this season to grow a stronger relationship.”
– Umanmielen on his relationship with God
A look at Georgia
Princely understands the Rebels’ game against Georgia is nothing if not crucial to Ole Miss’ playoff hopes.
“As far as how our season has went so far, this game is really, really, really big to us and big to how our season could go for the rest of the season. I feel like Georgia’s a great team. They’ve been a great team for the past four or five years, so it’s a challenge, but we’re up for it.“
Fans may recall that before he transferred, Umanmielen was with the Florida Gators — and while there, his team defeated Georgia in 2020 during the COVD-shortened season, so he’s experienced a Kirby-Smart-coached Bulldogs team. When asked what he has noticed about their offense this season, Umanmielen talked about their obvious strengths.
“I think they show a lot of different good looks. I think their offensive coordinator does a great job. They have really good size at o-line. It’s going to be a good one, but I think we’re going to rise to the occasion.“
Umanmielen on the Georgia offense
What’s Next?
The top-25 matchup between Ole Miss and Georgia will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium this Saturday. Until then, be sure to stay tuned with The Rebel Walk. Hotty Toddy and Go, Rebs!
