Opening statement…

“Today is a culmination of a lot of things. One of those is the hard work that is put into getting to this day from your staff, both the on the field guys and the on the road guys. They spend an enormous amount of time into recruiting men to our great university. I was motivated this morning to get a message from our leader, Chancellor Jones. I was overwhelmed with some great news that he is getting. He is such a good encouragement and sees things how they really are. I shared with the staff what his message was to us today at about 5:30 a.m. and it certainly rang true throughout the day. We are extremely excited about a class that I think, from top to bottom, may be our best since I have been here. We have the chance to finish with the most four plus stars in the history. We are waiting on one right now that we will hopefully win out. We have the chance to finish in the top 15 for three straight years in a poll, which has never been done before. All of that means very little, because it is what these young men do after they arrive here. I do believe we have identified young men and their families who truly fit with Ole Miss. That is huge to us. Our niche here is developing young men that fit with us and are motivated by the environment here to be great. It was a challenging class because of the number crunch we were under with the limited number of spots. It is difficult to have a lot of plan B’s. You can have a few, but it is difficult to manage. I think our staff managed that extremely well and I am very pleased with today. You always lose some when you are battling for the best. Every school does. We had a few of those, but we also won many battles of kids who really want to be at Ole Miss, in this program and representing this great university. I am excited to get to work with them.”

On the midyear class…

“The midyear class was a homerun for us. I believe D.J. Jones is a super talent. He is one of the quicker‐twitched guys I have seen on the field. He is a super talented kid. Tony Bridges is another one of the super talented guys that we have signed. I think our DB class is arguably one of the top in comparison to the other classes that we have signed. Terry Crawford is an athletic linebacker that gets us longer and faster. As far as Javon Patterson, I don’t know if I have been any more crazy about a young man and his family as I have that guy. He is a phenomenal talent and a very special kid. He could easily be the class president for this university and truly represent it with class. Javon handles himself so well.”

On quarterback Chad Kelly…

“Chad has made some poor decisions that have cost him opportunities, and almost cost him this one. He understands exactly what we need to do moving forward. He has some strong reigns on him, hopefully. I was asked about him today on the radio shows, they wanted to know my thought process on Chad Kelly. The media and social media really try to make it difficult. My thought process with situations like this is usually pretty simple. I balance on the scales an opportunity for a young man to rewrite his story with the possibility of me having embarrassment. If getting embarrassed is the worst thing that happens to me in life, I will be okay. I have been embarrassed before. I’m sure I will be again. I do think he has some redeeming qualities that hopefully we can put some structure around so that he will be able to rewrite his story in a positive way. I just hope he won’t embarrass our team, our university and myself. But, that is a possibility. That is something I know and recognize and will have to own. We have great support. I run everything by our administration. I know they trust my judgment. I trust the coaches that I have put around him and hopefully we can help him succeed.”

On social media influencing recruits…

“There are a lot of accounts, not owned by individuals, that represent a recruiting arm of some sort. I do not think that is a reason a young man should choose a school. But it unfortunately does influence some of them. Some do a very good job of it. It is part of the world we live in now. People say and do whatever they want to on social media. There are a lot of things that float around out there that are totally untrue. In the recruiting realm it can affect kids one way or another. It is just part of the world so we have to deal with it and manage it as best that we can. I sure hope that we will start preaching that with our 2016 guys. We will talk to them about the things that will help them and what will be important to them in the picking a school.”

On Shawn Curtis…

“Shawn was a really big get for us. We needed someone to play middle linebacker that really fit with our program. It didn’t take long after talking to him to see that he fit with us. I love his core values and I love the principles he is about. It was very difficult for him to break away from him previously giving his word. The only difference is, he was committed to play defensive end at a school and I sent Coach Barney to South Beach, Florida. It took relentless efforts from our staff to convince him, and his mom, that we would take good care of him and that the opportunity here at middle linebacker was a special opportunity to play in this league and for this university. Fortunately we were able to convince him to come with us. He is a 6‐4, 245‐pound guy that can run and he is going to fit with us very nicely.”

On Eric Swinney…

“Swinney has balance, talent, vision, toughness, pad level. He probably does not have the top‐end speed that a few in the nation have, but other than that, I would put him up against anybody. He has a low center of gravity. It was very clear for our staff very early on. We knew our depth chart at running back, and we really did not need to take more than one. I put my hand on the table and I said, ‘I want everyone to understand we are going all in after Eric Swinney. He will be our guy. We won’t waver.’ I really stand before you today and I want to give him, along with the others, credit. This kid had opportunities from anywhere he wanted, and he never waivered from his commitment, not one time. We are just thrilled that we have him. Our commitment to each other is mutual and it has just stood the test of all the storms along the way. I am just so thrilled that we have him. He is a special kid.”

On 2016…

“There is no question we have already turned our attention there. We need to have some mid‐year help at offensive line, defensive line and linebacker. I think our secondary is in good shape. We did really well as far as receivers go. We have some depth there. We will continue to build. Not that we will not take any, but we need to address some offensive line, defensive line, linebacker and some mid‐year signees. That could either be JUCO or high school. There are so many more high schoolers now who are planning ahead and getting out mid‐year and their stock will go up for us. Those are the ones we need to address.”

On the offensive line class…

“I love the three that we have from this class. Alex Givens is another kid and family that just fit so well with us. He had an in‐state big school that he could have gone to, along with many others, but he just really fit with us. He is going to be a special talent. Michael Howard had a similar story. He had trips lined up to many other schools. He is a country boy from Florida. I put my boots on and went and had a visit with him. I helped at the dog kennel and locked it up at night. I went to their home and by the end of the night he had called every other coach and said, ‘this is it I have found my home.’ Matt Luke did a great job building that relationship. I watched this young man, at 6‐5, clean‐snatch 325 pounds and when I saw that I said, ‘this is our guy.’ If he can gain 30 pounds he is going to be unbelievable. We need to get him here and feed him so he can gain some weight. Then of course, I talked about Javon Patterson, who I think is a homerun as well. We didn’t get as many as we wanted in this class. Again, it was tough to manage this class. We had three that we could have gone on last night, but we just decided we were going to save them. We have everyone back on the offensive line. We are moving Jeremy Liggins to offensive tackle, which I think is his future. This made me feel better about not just going after a kid. I think that is going to be Jeremy’s future as far as where he needs to be.”

On commits switching last minute…

“That is the million dollar question in recruiting. It is difficult on both sides. When you commit to a kid and they commit to you, you can easily get caught at the end if that commitment waivers. You might not have someone because you put your eggs in another basket, so to speak. On the other hand, if you recruit others it can be used against you with that commitment. Or you get two to three to come and you have too many and have to let one go at the end. I don’t know how to figure it out. We always try to stay under our limit and have room in case the latter occurs. Hopefully you just continue to develop trust and know that this guy is really committed to us and try to hang on until the end. But it is tough.”
  
On signing a great secondary…

“You start with Tony Bridges and Cameron Ordway, who are two extremely long, athletic corners that can play either corners or husky for us. They could probably play safety for us, too. They are two athletic, long guys. We believe they are quick‐twitched and can really play. Then you have Armani Linton and Montrell Custis. It was certainly a battle for Custis who comes from one of the most athletic schools in Georgia. We have a good connection going there with some of the guys. That is where DeMarquis Gates was and when (Custis) decided he was not going to go to the other school he was committed to, we just had to battle it out with three others. He just was true to form with the family atmosphere. He has a great mom and dad, and brother and sister. They fell in love with this place and what we are about.  Then Armani Linton, we had to fight some people off from him at the end but he just stayed strong. He knew he wanted to be an Ole Miss Rebel. I think we have some extremely talented DBs.”

On allowing commitments to take other visits…

“I assure you we will revisit this. The only problem is, I do not know that you can do a whole lot about it, unless you want to draw a line in the sand. Which in some cases maybe that is what we should do. We always do revisit our entire process. We go through every kid and we will talk about the outcome, the good and the bad, why it did not go our way in the end, and could we have done anything differently?”

On being in favor of an earlier signing period…

“I have always been in favor of it. Always. The only problem is, I do not know if any of us could ever agree on what it looks like. But, I think an early signing period in some form or fashion would be good. I am not for anything during the season. We need to be coaching our kids during the season. I have my hands full with these guys, mentoring them, coaching them and preparing them for the next game. So, I am not in favor of a bunch of trips during the season. That is the problem I have. But, I am for an early signing period so I guess I am double‐talking in a way. I think you would know immediately who is really committed to you. I actually like the idea someone had of as soon as someone commits, having them sign the paper. So you will know right away who is really committed. Then we can save a lot of time and money in the last six weeks on the ones who really are.”

On Chad Kelly’s on‐field contributions…

“I am looking forward to that quarterback competition. Chad, Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade will be a good competition. All three are unique and have good skills. We will see who adjusts to being in the leadership role the best. Chad’s numbers speak for themselves. I think Chad’s 48 or 49 touchdowns to eight interceptions, receiving national player of the year, 5,000 or so yards, shows that he produced for sure. He is a competitor; I do not think anyone doubts that. He has great arm strength. He has some mobility. It will be a good battle this spring.”

On DaMarkus Lodge and Jalen Julius…

“If you have watched Jalen’s film you will see that he is extremely talented in the return game. We are excited that we could win that battle and get him out of the state of Florida. I think, if I have to say today, from what we have told him he will start in our slot position. We will find some ways to get him involved in the run game and the screen game, also. I think that is where he will start. He also is a good corner. Depending on how everything works out, that is kind of how I see that. DaMarkus Lodge is an outside receiver that is as good as any I have ever seen, in my many years of recruiting, at going up and competing for the ball at the point of attack. I think we have a really talented kid there also. He will come in and add depth and compete early on. Our receiving corps as you look at it, could arguably be one of the better in the county. We have to manage not only next year, but the future also. Of course injuries always factor into that. I am excited to see how it all works out.”

On Austrian Robinson’s initial plan…

“I think he may be the steal of this class. There are a lot of good ones, but I just cannot even believe. Ohio State made a run at him in the last week. I went up there and I think the reason we got him is because I developed a good relationship with his mom. Then Coach Jones and Coach Kiffin were able to develop a relationship. His mom was in Harlem, New York, and Austrian was about an hour and a half upstate at boarding school. I got to go see them both on my visit. When I got to go see him I saw him play basketball. I said ‘please we have to have this guy on our team.’ This 6‐4, 270‐pound guy is running around like a 200‐pounder. He is just an athletic guy. He is a little raw because he has not played a lot of football, but I am really excited about him.”

On the flip‐flopping of commits this year…

“I have kind of had that on my soap box this morning with our coaches. We have created a media frenzy around this circus and so many more people have become involved in the recruiting process. The kids are genuine and nice and want to communicate with every staff. Every staff is good at recruiting. The last one that is on the phone with them sometimes has them confused and leaning that way. As long as they are taking those calls there are possibilities. The social media is the number one thing that has affected it, I would say. The accessibility that anybody has to these young men has just grown exponentially through the use of social media. It plays on a young man’s mind. When we were 17 or 18 years old we were probably more impressionable than we are now as men. That is one of the difficult tasks. Social media has certainly created something around this day that I don’t know if any coach would say we are crazy about. It definitely felt like there was more of it this year.”

On the academic issues of this recruiting class…

“I feel very good as I look down the list. I think there are only three kids on here that we are concerned about at this point. We have to have a plan. There is a guy we have not talked about, Ross Donelly. That was a blessing to get him. He was going to a west coast, high academic school. He finds out about a week and a half ago that his test scores were not good enough to get in. It is an excellent test score. It is about twice mine. But for us to be right there and to have the relationship we had developed and to get him was just great. I think our coaches did a good job of not only looking at talent, but at looking for character, academics and the whole package.”

On signing Joe Anderson and his academic eligibility…
  
“We will have to dig into that a little bit more. He was debating which two schools he was going to sign with. I need to do more homework on that. I do not think the chances are great. That does give us a better chance the second time around when he is more ready for it. That is one that understands clearly that JUCO is probably where he is headed.”

NOTE: Quotes courtesy of the University of Mississippi athletics department