Ole Miss is entering week two of spring practice under first-year head coach Pete Golding. Golding coached the Rebels to two victories in the College Football Playoffs last season after taking over for the now-departed Lane Kiffin.
The Rebels are set to take the field again on Tuesday. Media will catch a brief viewing of the Rebels’ Tuesday practice before having a press conference with Golding and select players afterwards,
ON QB2
The most intriguing position battle is how things will fall out behind returning starter and legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate Trinidad Chambliss at the quarterback position. While the likely school of thought is that QB2 would be Auburn transfer Deuce Knight’s job, let’s see how it all plays out. No doubt, Knight looks great, but we keep hearing great things about the job of AJ Maddox, though that comes with a little caveat of “Knight is just a gamer.”
Rebel great and NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf stands alongside his father Terrance during a recent Ole Miss practice.
BIG CAT’S BACK
Former Ole Miss All-American and NFL veteran Terrance Metcalf is back. When we say back, he is on the field, sleeves rolled up and getting dirty while training up the Rebels’ big men on the offensive line. As I’ve said before, he appears to be working hand-in-hand with OL coach John Garrison, who did one heck of a job coaching his position last season. My guess is that the O-line play only gets even better from here.
Former Rebel Brandon Turnage, an old Lafayette High School standout, is also on the staff working with DBs and in the recruiting department.
EDGES WITH EDGE
Two transfers on the defensive line have looked good so far in Rebels Red & Blue: Former Oregon Duck Blake Purchase and Nevada Wolfpack member Jonathan Maldonado.
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Bryan Brown sang the praises of both of his new stop toys last week. He said Purchase owns heavy hands.
“Blake Purchase is a heavy-handed guy who can come off the edge,. He’s twitchy and can play the five-technique really well. He does a great job against tight ends and is going to be a big asset for us, Brown related.
“Jonathan Maldonado is long. Really long. I paused the film the other day and it looked like the tackle couldn’t even get his hands on him. He’s got a really good first step as a pass rusher.
“Adding those guys to what we already have on the edge, we feel like we can do some really good things defensively, both in the pass rush and in the run game.”