Ole Miss’ Will Echoles Talks D-Line, In-State Recruiting Shift, and Stepping Up for Rebels in 2025
OXFORD, Miss. – In the midst of spring camp for the Ole Miss football team, media had an opportunity Tuesday to speak with the former No. 1 recruit in the state of Mississippi, sophomore defensive lineman Will Echoles.
Echoles was a talented two-way player in high school who played on both sides of the ball before focusing on the defensive line in college.
“When I was first being recruited, I was recruited as an O-Lineman,” Echoles explained. “I really started playing D-Line my senior year and I had picked up Ole Miss and stuff and being recruited both ways… I was just playing O-Line a lot because coming from a 4A high school, I had to play on both sides of the ball. I played (offensive tackle), but I probably would’ve played guard in college,” he noted.
Coming out of the 2024 recruiting class, Echoles was widely expected to play college football at Mississippi State — until Ole Miss became involved in the process and took him away from Starkville.
The Houston, Mississippi native explained that he attended the same high school as former Bulldog Chris Jones, an All-Pro with the Kansas City Chiefs, and a majority of his hometown residents tend to cheer for State rather than Ole Miss.
“It’s State’s backyard, it’s a bunch of State fans… I just liked Ole Miss as a kid, but what’s crazy is I had never come to an Ole Miss game until they recruited me… it was kind of crazy, but that’s where I’m at now.”
– Echoles in choosing Ole Miss over Mississippi State
On top of Echoles choosing to play in red and blue, 2025 marks the third year in a row that Ole Miss has landed the highest-ranked player in the state, starting with Raleigh native Suntarine Perkins in 2023, then Echoles, and Ackerman’s Caleb Cuningham in 2025. Will elaborated on the efforts from the Rebel staff, acknowledging that in-state recruiting hasn’t always played in the favor of Ole Miss.
“The year before, we had Suntarine Perkins and he was the No. 1 player in the state. Then, I was the No. 1 player in the state. Now it’s a trend because this year we signed the No. 1 player in the state, Caleb Cunningham. It’s kind of set a tradition for the No. 1 player (in the state of Mississippi) to come to Ole Miss; it’s flipped the narrative. Back in the day, most of them went to State. Now, we’re flipping it to Ole Miss to be the place to be in the state of Mississippi.“
– Echoles on the Rebels’ in-state recruiting
Another Mississippi native, Kam Franklin, also committed to Ole Miss in the 2024 class alongside Echoles. For both of them, developing under players like JJ Pegues, Jared Ivey, Princely Umanmielen, Walter Nolen, to name a few, has allowed them to blossom into SEC starters in their second year of college.
Legendary DL Class 🦈
DL Kam Franklin, William Echoles & Jeffery Rush pic.twitter.com/vw1eK5wutW
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) December 21, 2023
According to Echoles, Franklin is someone who’s significantly improved since he arrived at Ole Miss as a freshman last season.
“Kam is my guy, he’s working hard right now. He took a big jump from when he first got here, he’s stacking days, and he’s going to be real big for us come the fall.“
– Echoles on Kam Franklin
With all the abovementioned talent the Rebels had on the D-line last year, it never bothered Echoles that he was coming into such a crowded — and talented — position room in Oxford his freshman year.
“I just had to learn how to be a pro and learn practice. When I signed, I knew what I was getting into. Really, I just wanted to soak everything in and gain a lot of knowledge I could from the older guys,” Echoles commented.
“… The game didn’t really speed up on me, it was just the people and players and stuff. They’re bigger and stronger, but as far as like my biggest obstacle, going from playing to not playing. In high school, you know what it is, you’re the main guy. It definitely teaches you to be patient and wait your turn.“
Echoles on being patient
Echoles will be a critical piece for Pete Golding’s defensive unit this fall and will be relied on heavily to help fill the void left from last year’s linemen who are headed on to the NFL.
“This year (the defensive line) is real young and inexperienced. Last year we had experienced guys that have been in college for a bunch of year, so we have to work hard and keep pushing and stacking days,” Echoles said.
“In this league, it isn’t about talent, because in this league, there’s talent everywhere. When talent meets talent, that’s where your hard work comes in to separate yourself.“
Will Echoles
As always, for all of your Ole Miss sports updates, recruiting news, and transfer portal content, be sure to stay tuned with The Rebel Walk!
