ATLANTA — To say Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu was overlooked coming out of high school wouldn’t be accurate, because in order to be “overlooked,” someone first has to actually look at you.

Ta’amu, a product of Pearl City High School in Hawaii, didn’t have a single Division I offer in 2015, so he was forced to take a different route.

“I had some partial DII offers and one junior college offer and it was to a military school,” Ta’amu said during Tuesday’s SEC Media Days session. “I knew I had a DI arm and DI talent, so I took the junior college route.”

That led him from Hawaii to New Mexico, where he played for the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.

Even then, one year wasn’t enough for him to get on teams’ radars, which was mostly due to an injury he suffered that limited him to only five pass attempts (of which he completed three for 20 yards and a touchdown).

That meant another year of early wake-up calls, a shaved head and relentless marching. Ta’amu recalled the rigid structure of the academy.

“I think the toughest part was that being a military school, just waking up early. I would say 6 o’clock every morning, but I would get up at 5:30 because we had to put on our uniforms, making sure our uniforms were right,” he said. “We had to shave our heads bald, which was kind of rough. Our rooms had to be top-notch, no dust or anything.”

His sophomore year in New Mexico paid off, though, as he burst on to the Division I radar, starting from his very first game.

“Second season came around, first game, I threw eight touchdown passes and it just kind of blew up and a bunch of college coaches started hitting me up,” he said.

Ta’amu finished the 2016 season with impressive numbers — 198-for-344, 3,014 yards, 32 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also added seven scores on the ground.

When it came time for him to pick his next school, he chose Ole Miss, which was on him early in his JUCO career.

“Ole Miss stayed in contact with me throughout my season and offered me,” he said. “I took a visit there and loved it. I hadn’t really heard of Ole Miss much, but I went there and it was amazing. Being with the coaches and the players, I just committed on the spot.”

That was an interesting decision, as the Rebels had star QB Shea Patterson as the entrenched starter at the time. But the discipline Ta’amu learned in New Mexico paid off, as he was ready to play when Patterson went down with an injury in last year’s LSU game.

“I went out there and prepared myself like I was going to start every game,” he said. “I trusted God, trusted my teammates and went out there and let things take care of themselves.”

Ta’amu led the Rebels on six consecutive scoring drives to start his career. Ole Miss lost the LSU game and the following week against Arkansas, but it set the tone for what Ta’amu could do.

He finished the year with 1,682 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, adding four more scores as a runner. Now that he’s the starter (Patterson transferred to Michigan), he’s eager to prove last year was no accident. He said he thinks the confidence he plays with helps set him apart from other quarterbacks.

“I think it was just my decision-making and making sure I get the ball out quick,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of time back there, playing against these SEC guys. I think just having confidence in myself is what set me apart.”

The discipline instilled in him at the New Mexico Military Institute is still guiding him, as he mentioned wanting to cut down on his interceptions as a big goal for this season.

With one of the best (if not the best) receiving corps in the country, featuring AJ Brown, D.K. Metcalf, DaMarkus Lodge and Dawson Knox, Ta’amu could continue putting up video-game numbers this fall. If he does, the former unheralded high schooler from Hawaii could find himself playing on Sundays like his idol Marcus Mariota in 2019 and beyond.