In 2013, Robert Nkemdiche was the top recruit in the country. He chose Ole Miss over plenty of other suitors, helping the Rebels land the eighth-best class in the country, including five-star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and five-star wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.
Ole Miss is playing and recruiting like a program that can stay elite for the long haul
The Rebels’ Sugar Bowl win could be a sign of more to come.
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
That class changed the trajectory of the program, which hired Hugh Freeze to drag it out of the disastrous Houston Nutt era. Now, the Rebels have been to two straight New Year’s Six Bowls and have a top 10 finish in the AP Poll. And from the looks of things, they appear to just be getting started.
Let Freeze tell you how important Nkemdiche has been to Ole Miss's progress.
“I’m totally indebted to this guy. He helped change our program,” Freeze said. “I look forward to sharing with NFL scouts and general managers his unique ability and talent.”
Next year’s Ole Miss team is hard to peg. The Rebels return star quarterback Chad Kelly, but they lose their top three recruits from 2013 and many key defenders, with only 11 returning starters. That said, with Kelly in the fold, this could still be a top 10-team (the Rebels’ are No. 14 in the preseason composite).
But even looking beyond next year, an Ole Miss program that hasn’t finished this high in the AP poll since the 1960s looks like it has a chance to get back to the country’s national elite, and stay there.
That starts in recruiting, where Ole Miss is starting to become a school that reloads rather than rebuilds. Take left tackle, for example. The Rebels lose Tunsil, who was a three-year starter, but they’ll fill that void with No. 2 overall recruit and top offensive tackle Greg Little.
“Greg Little is the No. 1 offensive tackle recruit in the country because of his combination of size and athleticism,” SB Nation recruiting analyst Bud Elliott said. “It is never easy to start at tackle as a true freshman, and particularly not in the SEC West, but former No. 1 tackle recruits Laremy Tunsil and Cam Robinson did just that at Ole Miss and Alabama, respectively in recent years. I do not believe Little is the same level of prospect as those two, but he’s very good and should be able to start.”
And it's not just Little. Ole Miss has landed five-star quarterback prospect Shea Patterson, who was just named MVP of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and five-star defensive tackle Benito Jones. Add in 10 more four-stars, and Ole Miss has the seventh-best recruiting class in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite Ratings. And it's not over yet. The Rebels are also one of the favorites to land top in-state target Jeffrey Simmons and are strong contenders to get No. 1 overall recruit Rashan Gary. If all goes well, they could finish with the No. 1 class in the country.
“Ole Miss’ recruiting has been rapidly improving,” Elliott said. “It dipped a bit after the amazing 2013 class, but as recruits have seen the results from that class, they are increasingly buying in. The Rebels have a chance to sign the top class in the country, and if this continues into 2017, the Rebels will have one of the better rosters in college football.”
In the SEC West, the key to winning is talent. X’s and O’s matter, and Freeze has shown that he can adapt, fitting Kelly into this year’s scheme to become one of the best quarterbacks in the country. But ultimately, programs can only consistently improve if they consistently have the best players.
