Ole Miss Football began its spring drills on Friday, March 27, and the media was permitted to attend a 12-minute practice window on Tuesday, March 31. Head coach Pete Golding and quarterback Trinidad Chambliss spoke at press conferences over the period.
During the open practice window, quarterbacks took snaps and worked on rolling outside the pocket while the rest of the team practiced punt returns and punt coverage. Izaiah Hartrup, Isreal Solomon, Cameron Miller and Isaiah Spencer all took reps at punt returner.
Golding said he modeled his offseason practice structure after that of NFL teams due to the volume of transfer portal additions.
“I think up to this point, it’s been a pretty productive offseason. (We) changed up the offseason philosophy based on the amount of transfers coming in,” Golding said in a press conference on Tuesday. “Obviously, our underclassmen are enrolling early, so (we) kind of broke (practice) up into a more NFL model, and (we) did three phases of OTAs (organized team activities).”
Phase two of OTAs will begin on Friday and will feature game speed drills. During phase three, full contact is permitted, and the team will have two mock game weeks during which they will prepare and practice as they would during the regular season leading up to a weekend game.
Golding spoke about the deep running back room, which includes returnees Kewan Lacy and Shekai Mills-Knight, transfer Makhi Frazier and freshman Damarius Yates. Golding said that because these players have different play styles, each one adds a unique dimension to the offense.
“I think the big thing in that room is their different skillsets. You have to have the ability to run the football in this league to win the ones you really need to win,” Golding said. “There (are) different packages based on skillsets and a lot of things that could do that provide a lot of issues from a defensive standpoint. … They can catch it out of the backfield, power runner, a scatback.”
One of the strongest position groups from last year’s team was the receiving corps; however, after De’Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace III declared for the NFL Draft and Cayden Lee transferred to Missouri, the room looks largely different heading into next season.
Golding’s philosophy in replacing these receivers, he said, was to find players with top-end speed who could open the game up for the offense. Not only does this give the offense big-play ability, but it also eases the stress on Chambliss and Lacy in the running game.
“We wanted to go out, number one, and make sure that we’re still getting guys that can stretch the field vertically. That’s a big piece to that offense, especially from a coordinating standpoint,” Golding said. “When you have an elite quarterback that’s really athletic, when you have an All-American running back, there’s gonna be a lot of attention on those two from a run game (standpoint). If you still have the ability to stretch the field vertically on the outside, it presents a lot of issues.”
Golding said that Syracuse transfer Darrell Gill Jr. is the type of speedster that the offense needs. Johntay Cook II, another Syracuse transfer, is “elusive” according to Golding. Golding also pointed out that some wide receivers, in his opinion, are not being talked about enough. He expects several of them to take a big step forward this season.
“There’s gonna be some breakout guys — y’all aren’t saying their names right now — just based on how they’re wired,” Golding said.
Chambliss also shared his thoughts on the new pass catchers.
“We didn’t drop off too much. We got some dudes from Syracuse. Johntay Cook, Darrell Gill can play. Horatio Fields, he’s a bigger receiver,” Chambliss said. “Then getting Caleb (Cunningham) going. Definitely looking forward to connecting with those guys and creating that chemistry.”
John David Baker is the new offensive coordinator for the Rebels. He was with Ole Miss for three seasons from 2021-23 before departing for East Carolina University. Baker brings a familiar offensive system with him, with a few new plays and slightly different terminology.
Chambliss was a spring transfer last year, meaning he joined the team in the middle of spring practice. This season, since he is already with the program, he will have a full offseason to prepare.
Ole Miss’ offensive interior remains unchanged, with Brycen Sanders, Patrick Kutas and Delano Townsend all returning. However, offensive tackles Jayden Williams and Diego Pounds graduated and will need to be replaced.
On the defensive line, the Rebels are anchored by veterans who are familiar with the system.
“It’s a group that’s got a lot of experience coming back,” Golding said. “Having Will Echoles come back, who I think is a really elite player, and Kam Franklin has continued to develop and (is) really showing what we thought he was going to be on a consistent basis, and still having Jamarious Brown who’s gonna be (in his) third year in the system. (He’s) played a lot of football. Andrew Maddox has the ability to be a really good player. … Obviously (Suntarine) Perkins, from an edge standpoint, is a three-year starter for us.”
Transfers defensive ends Blake Purchase and Jordan Renaud have the potential to play big roles on the defensive line, too.
Tuesday’s press conference was the media’s first chance to speak to Golding since Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney accused the Ole Miss head coach of tampering in the recruitment of transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli. Golding did not seem bothered by Swinney’s comments.
“There’s two sides of every story, so I’m not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grandstand and all that,” Golding said. “That’s why there is enforcement. That’s why we have a compliance office. They do all that.”
This press conference was also Chambliss’ first time speaking with the media since his preliminary injunction trial in February. Most recently, on Friday, March 27, an NCAA petition to appeal the Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling that permitted Chambliss to play this upcoming season was denied, meaning that Chambliss is fully cleared to play this upcoming season. Chambliss was pleased with the news.
“(I’m) very excited to see the news that came out Friday,” Chambliss said. “Now I can just focus all my attention to spring ball and making sure that our team’s ready for the season.”
Golding is entering his first full season as head coach after taking over the program in December 2025. The title change has altered his life both on and off the field, he said.
“It is super different (as a head coach) when you try to go out to eat and do like normal s–t that you think is normal, that obviously is not normal,” Golding said. “It’s amazing to me how the world works when one title can change.”
