National Signing Day for Ole Miss was not as triumphant as Lane Kiffin wanted it to be, but the Ole Miss head coach said he’s still satisfied with the class he’s bringing into Oxford this fall.
The new head coach addressed the reality of coming in as a new coach on Wednesday and cited not having the early signing period, making it more challenging for the staff to build the class.
“This is a different era of college football. It is kind of like managing an NFL roster, so we left ourselves some room,” Kiffin said. “That puts us in a position for kids that are still out there, grad transfers (and) regular transfers, and also we can save some (scholarships) for next year, too.”
Ole Miss missed out on two big recruits. Wide receiver Malachi Widemen and Donovan Kaufman, who visited at the end of January, and the mysterious five-star running back Zachary Evans still looms large.
Two running backs will come in with the 2020 class, adding to an already crowded stable of Ole Miss tailbacks. Kentrel Bullock, a three-star, signed back in December, and Henry Parrish, a four-star, signed Wednesday morning.
Bullock and Parrish will enter a strong stable of running backs including sophomores Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner.
“You can never have too many running backs,” Kiffin said. “I don’t think we’re really looking for certain positions left. I think once you get to this point, it’s the best players versus just adding certain positions… Like I said, it’s more like the NFL model. You’ve got to manage your rosters. (I’m) not going to get into positions much except for we’d probably like to sign a really quality running back.”
Along with four-star Parish, today the Rebels have added some help on the offensive line adding Cedric Milton a 6-foot-5, 260-pound three-star offensive tackle out of Houston. Milton was originally committed to Arizona since last summer, but he de-committed two days before visiting Oxford. The Rebels also signed long time commit Luke Shouse, a 6-foot-6, 250 pound three-star offensive tackle out of Brentwood, Texas.
Kiffin’s focus will turn to spring practice to evaluate his current roster while working to improve the class of 2021.
“It probably sounds bad, but we only know so much about our current roster,” Kiffin said. “You can watch tape, but until you get your hands on them and really work with them in practice and see what they can do in our systems… I think it’s too early to project that stuff and which of these guys will play.”
