The 2026 college football season will be a proving ground for the Ole Miss Football program. Head coach Pete Golding returned several key starters and hauled in another elite portal class. The team earned the No. 3 conference ranking in SEC preseason voting and has two Heisman hopefuls in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.
Since the Rebels are building off three consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins, this season is the prime opportunity for the Rebels to show why they belong at the precipice of college football. If they fail to perform, however, they will be viewed as a second-tier SEC team unable to consistently compete at the highest level.
The Ole Miss backfield is unequivocally one of the strongest in the nation. Returning phenoms Chambliss and Lacy have become household names. On July 21, Ole Miss Athletics launched the #H6I5MEN campaign to advocate for its two stars following historic seasons by both players.
Last season, after spending two games as the backup, Chambliss stepped in for an injured Austin Simmons and never looked back. He threw for almost 4,000 yards and 22 touchdowns while adding over 500 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground en route to the Rebels’ College Football Playoff semifinal appearance.
Lacy had an equally impressive season during which he set multiple school records, like the single-season touchdown record. With over 1,500 rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns, Lacy was a workhorse back that never seemed to falter until the Fiesta Bowl against No. 10 Miami, when he dealt with an injury.
Lacy may cede some carries to talented transfers JT Lindsey, Joshua Dye and Makhi Frazier and returnee Shekai Mills-Knight. Still, Lacy receiving fewer carries this season will not be indicative of a falloff. Instead, it will reflect the coaches’ intentions to keep him healthy and fresh for as much of the season as possible.
“If the team wins, that’s a good game for me,” Lacy said in a press conference on Aug. 6. “Having those extra legs, too, is just a blessing. To have a rotation, and other people to go in there and make explosive plays … it’s definitely going to be different from last year.”
Lacy took around 82% of all carries by Ole Miss running backs last season. The strain eventually caught up to him during the Rebel’s deep playoff run, hence his injury against Miami.
Indeed, if Golding and new offensive coordinator John David Baker want to give the Rebels the best chance in the postseason, they need to ensure that the Rebels are not only winning regular season games but also remaining healthy enough to compete at the highest level come December and January.
The wide receiver corps may take a step back this season. Two Syracuse transfers, Johntay Cook II and Darrell Gill Jr., have shown flashes, but they certainly have not produced the highlight-reel plays that De’Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace III did during their college days.
Last year, Deuce Alexander was a gadget third receiver, catching 44 passes and rushing 19 times. Stribling and Wallace each caught more passes, tallied more receiving yards and saw more snaps than Alexander. This season, he will need to step up into the WR1 role.
Outside of Alexander, the group has hardly any returning production. The next best pass-catcher is tight end Caleb Odom, who had only 197 receiving yards on 19 receptions last season. Lacy is third in total receiving yards by returnees, with 177 on 29 receptions.
Transfer Horatio Fields, who, similar to Alexander, played at Wake Forest to start his career, could make an impact this season. In two seasons with the Demon Deacons, Fields had approximately 500 total receiving yards. He transferred to Auburn, where he had 106 yards and one touchdown before breaking his foot. While these numbers may seem uninspiring, he was trending upward before the injury.
Alexander spoke about the wide receiver room. He has confidence in the group despite the departures of Stribling, Wallace and Cayden Lee in the offseason.
“I feel like we did lose a lot, but we also gained a lot,” Alexander said Aug. 6. “We’re not lacking in that area. It’s on the way. We’re working hard behind the scenes.”
The offensive line lost tackles Jayden Williams and Diego Pounds to the NFL. This season, the starters will be Terez Davis at left tackle, Delano Townsend at left guard, Brycen Sanders at center and Patrick Kutas at right guard. There is currently a position battle at right tackle between LSU transfer Carius Curne and Miami transfer Tommy Kinsler IV. Returnee Connor Howes is also in the mix.
Defensively, the Rebels should take a step up this year. The Rebels allowed 149 rushing yards per game last year, which ranked bottom-5 in the SEC. Golding noted that the lack of depth heavily affected the unit’s performance.
“We didn’t feel like we had enough depth on the defensive line, especially inside, last year to stay fresh late in games, and I felt like that really hurt,” Golding said in a press conference on Aug. 6.
Despite losing Zxavian Harris, the unit has been beefed up. Mainstay defensive tackle Will Echoles heads the group, with Florida transfer Michai Boireau likely starting alongside him. Colorado transfer Jehiem Oatis will add depth along with returnee Jamarious Brown.
Additionally, defensive end Kam Franklin and edge rusher Suntarine Perkins will look to build on solid 2025 campaigns, while transfers Jordan Renaud, Blake Purchase and Jonathan Maldonado will provide much-needed depth.
One of the biggest areas of improvement this season is the linebacker group. California transfer Luke Ferrelli and Baylor transfer Keaton Thomas should wreak havoc on the field.
Ferrelli was named the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year last season after totaling 91 tackles, including five for loss. Thomas made 103 tackles with seven for loss and was on the watchlists for both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is presented to the top defensive player in the country, and the Butkus Award, which is presented to the top linebacker in the country.
Cornerbacks Antonio Kite, Jaylon Braxton, Cedrick Beavers and Pat Broomfield and safeties Ladarian Clardy, Nick Cull, Andy Jaffe and Anthony Robinson III all chose to return to Oxford this season.
Transfers in the secondary include cornerback Jalyn Crawford from Auburn and safeties Joenel Aguero from Georgia, Sharif Denson from Florida and Edwin Joseph from Florida State.
The secondary unit is quite talented and will look to improve upon a 2025 unit that allowed less than 200 passing yards per game.
“Every day … you have to be doing your A-game, because we have a lot of guys that can be starters in the safety and corner room, so every day, you just have to compete,” Braxton said Aug. 6.
