Leave comments and questions below. I’ll check in periodically. – PA
1:40
The Ole Miss Spirit reports that offensive lineman Tony Gray has chosen Ole Miss over Florida and Georgia, the second offensive lineman in the class and the eleventh in three seasons.
Reports are surfacing that Larrell Murchison will not make a decision today.
1:13
Good stuff from @RobbyDonoho here. Looks like Taekion Reed is fashion-conscious and has some personality about him too.
New Hope's @Taekion Reed not only picked the Ole Miss hat & signed with the Rebels, he chucked the MSU hat across the room. That's a first! pic.twitter.com/W8wNMO1rXi
— Robby Donoho (@RobbyDonoho) February 1, 2017
12:37
Interesting read on Murchison here from DawgNation.com. Nothing like Signing Day drama.
12:05
Morton athlete D.D. Bowie commits to Ole Miss. Bowie had been committed to Ole Miss for a long time. 247 Sports rates him the No. 119 overall prospect. He’s listed at wide receiver but will likely play defense.
11:59
The Ole Miss Spirit reports that there’s no word right now on Larrell Murchison, beacuse South Carolina and North Carolina State are making a late run at him.
11:52
An assistant coach told me years ago, and it’s a message that’s been repeated many times, “You want to sign at least one quarterback in every class, because it’s such an important position.”
Quarterback is a position that quickly became one with depth issues for Ole Miss after DeVante Kincade transferred, and Ryan Buchanan gave up football.
Also, coaches have entertained the idea of using the athletic Jason Pellerin at another position.
There is no question as far as the starter. The show belongs to sophomore Shea Patterson.
That begs the question why a junior college guy with only two years of eligibility would willingly enter the picture as Jordan Ta’amu has done.
Ta’amu is an early enrollee. The Rebels today have also signed three-star recruit Alex Faniel.
Ta’amu is listed at 6-2, 200 and is a dual threat guy. Maybe Freeze has a plan for him. We’ll ask that question in a bit. The presser is at 2.
D.D. Bowie’s announcement is a few minutes away.
11:43
Regarding Reed, looks like defense for the New Hope two-way player.
Welcome to the family @taekion! Another BIG man for @TravionScott and the D-Line room. #NSD17 #SipBoyz17 pic.twitter.com/nCgiEezIvz
— Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) February 1, 2017
11:26
Ole Miss lost a former commit to MSU in linebacker Willie Gay. The Rebels have signed a former MSU commit in New Hope offensive lineman Taekion Reed. D.D. Bowie announcement is about a half hour out.
11:19
I have moved my base of operations. Anything happen between the Oxford Conference Center and Newk’s?
10:52
The Ole Miss Spirit’s Yancy Porter reports that Ole Miss has moved from No. 58 to No. 32 in Scout’s team recruiting rankings.
10:51
Re wide receivers: Lodge, Jefferson, Metcalf, Brown and Tre Nixon were all top 15 receivers signed in the last two years. Jefferson in 2015 and Nixon in 2016 were redshirted.
10:48
D.D. Bowie is expected to announce at noon on the Mississippi High School Network.
10:36
Scout 4-star wide receiver Braylon Sanders has signed with Ole Miss.
Callaway's Braylon Sanders headed to Ole Miss. congrats Braylon. #NSD17 pic.twitter.com/MIpSmccP6Z
— Kevin Eckleberry (@lagrangesports) February 1, 2017
10:23
I still haven’t seen anything on defensive tackle Larrell Murchison. If you have post it below.
10:17
Hugh Freeze has credited new defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff for his role in helping land the celebrated 2013 class. McGriff was the secondary coach then. You can see his impact on this class as well.
10:06
Scout is reporting that Ole Miss has signed linebacker Zikerrion Baker of Minden, Louisiana. He’s listed as an outside linebacker and rated three stars on the 247 Sports composite list.
9:53
Ole Miss has announced the signing of Sincere David, a 300-pound defensive tackle out of Jacksonville, Florida. His name is new to this season’s recruiting conversation. He is not rated by 247 Sports.
9:47
Rivals is reporting that Clinton athlete Kam White has committed to Ole Miss. He’s rated four stars in some places and three stars on the 247 Sports composite list.
Regarding the scholarship limitations, as a coach you hope you never “miss” on the evaluation of a prospect, but the lower numbers make it much more important that Ole Miss coaches hit the mark in the pre-signing day work.
9:37
No regrets for former Ole Miss WR Donte Moncrief.
Made one of the best decisions of my life on signing day sending that letter up to Oxford Ms. That day changed my life forever. #hottyToddy
— Donte Moncrief (@drm_12) February 1, 2017
9:30
CJ Miller, a safety from Powder Springs, Georgia, was once a USC commit.
He’s a three-star recruit and should have a chance to get on the field even though the Rebels were young at his position last year.
There were some encouraging plays — like Deontay Anderson’s game-clinching interception against Texas A&M — but there were still coverage busts and communication issues late last season.
Now there’s a new sheriff in town, defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff, and the secondary is his area of expertise.
It looks like a situation where a lot of players will have a chance to prove their worth.
9:21
Javonta Payton is a three-star recruit according to 247 Sports. He also had offers from Middle Tennessee, the Tennessee that covers the whole state and Purdue.
Ole Miss signed some of the nation’s most highly rated receiver talent — DaMarkus Lodge, Van Jefferson, DK Metcalf, AJ Brown — in the last two seasons.
You want to add something every year so as not to become stale, but this was not the position of need in this class.
9:15
One reason there was room for Woullard is that running back target Cordarrian Richardson has committed to Maryland. Still, a lot of people are really high on Woullard. He may turn out to be a lightly heralded success story.
As Ole Miss has stock-piled linebackers one who was coveted that got away is Willie Gay, the Starkville native and former Ole Miss commit who has picked MSU.
Ole Miss and MSU have also been in a tug-of-war for Morton athlete D.D. Bowie.
9:08
Isaiah Woullard’s ceremony at Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg.
PCS Running Back Isaiah Woullard is officially an Ole Miss Rebel pic.twitter.com/mbZjpe51wP
— Jacob Kemp (@Jacob_Kemp2) February 1, 2017
9:05
Regarding that offensive line for next season, Ole Miss returns seven of the eight linemen who appeared in the two deep for the final regular season game.
Greg Little, Rod Taylor, Jordan Sims, Javon Patterson, Daronte Bouldin, Alex Givens and Sean Rawlings all return, and every one of those has starting experience.
In addition, the Rebels redshirted Jack DeFoor, Eli Johnson, Chandler Tuitt, Bryce Matthews and Royce Neman last year.
In a perfect word – How often does that happen? – those experienced guys will remain healthy, and the redshirts will evolve at their own pace. One or more will break through and contribute.
New offensive coordinator Phil Longo will come in with some creative run designs, and the Rebels – again assuming health – have some potential playmakers at running back with Jordan Wilkins, Eric Swinney and DeVaughn Pennamon.
The real reason there should be improvement in the run game next season is the expectation for the offensive line.
8:55
Some players beginning to put out the word that they have officially signed.
Here’s Vicksburg OL Ben Brown.
St. Aloysius OL Ben Brown has signed his LOI with #OleMiss pic.twitter.com/rfV2U7d964
— Dave Bevan (@DaveBevan247) February 1, 2017
The Rebels are hoping to pick up another couple of linemen today. With the numbers returning up front Ole Miss should be able to put together a line with talent and depth in 2017.
8:45
Power Springs, Georgia safety C.J. Miller, a three-star prospect according to the 247 Sports composite list, has signed with Ole Miss, according to Rebels247. The school has not officially released any signings yet.
8:28
Remember, this is a different kind of Signing Day. Scholarship cuts are part of self-imposed sanctions announced in May. Ole Miss has 21 scholarships to offer and is not expected to sign that many today. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze will likely hold one or two and see what transfers might be available after today.
8:25
Yancy Porter of The Ole Miss Spirit tells the QB Club that Breon Dixon, an early enroll guy, had a 3.8 GPA at Grayson High School outside of Atlanta.
Grayson also produced the Nkemdiches. Make of that what you will. They were both very good players at Ole Miss, and both carried a lot of drama.
Several of these linebackers will be tried both inside and out. The real area of need right now is middle linebacker.
8:20
Linebacker Mohamed Sonago of Plano, Texas has announced for Ole Miss. He’s rated four stars by Scout and three stars on the 247 Sports composite list.
He’s also listed at 6-2, 239 which makes him a candidate to help in the middle. The class has several commits at outside linebacker.
8:12
Ole Miss began this day with 14 verbal commits in a class ranked No. 53 on the 247 Sports composite list and No. 13 in the SEC.
8:05
I will be singing with Ole miss tomorrow at 8:30 at PCS
— Isaiah Woullard (@isaiah_woullard) February 1, 2017
Presbyterian Christian running back Isaiah Woullard announced last night that he will sign with Ole Miss this morning.
247Sports lists Woullard as a two-star recruit. He also had offers from Idaho and Southern Miss.
7:59
Ole Miss had six early enrollees, four of them juco signees and two of them high school players Ryder Anderson (DE) and Breon Dixon (LB). No signees announced yet today.
7:47
As Signing Day takes flight I am working from the Ole Miss Quarterback Club gathering at the Oxford Conference Center this morning. Updates, opinions and rumors will be right here as the day rolls along.