In this week’s edition of Four Downs, The Daily Mississippian’s David Collier, Tyler Bischoff and John Luke McCord answer questions regarding Ole Miss Sports.
1. How hot is Mike Bianco’s seat right now?
David Collier (@DavidLCollier): Although he’s safe this year, his seat is hot, and for a guy that built the program to where it is now, that is a big deal. This is by far the most pressure he has felt at Ole Miss, and he needs some good news to come from tonight’s MLB Draft to help get some big recruits to campus in the fall. He’ll have a year to change some minds, but another disappointing season will likely result in the end of the Bianco era for Rebel baseball.
Tyler Bischoff (@Tyler_RSR): Mike Bianco is a victim of his own success as well as the success of his fellow coaches. If Bianco hadn’t had the success of reaching multiple super regionals then his expectations would be lower. Also with Hugh Freeze guiding a five-win turn around in football and Andy Kennedy finally getting over his hump by making the NCAA T ournament in basketball, the focus was turned to Bianco to lead the baseball team above and beyond.
John Luke McCord (@JLgrindin): Mike Bianco’s seat is pretty hot right now. He seemingly has to win next year with a team of players who have yet to play to the ability it was believed they had when they came into the program. He’ll also be replacing Bobby Wahl, Mike Mayers and Brett Huber. Not to mention, some of his freshmen could be swiped in the MLB draft tonight.
2. What freshman do you think will make the most impact for football next season and why?
Collier: With the number of highly touted guys who should make big contributions, there’s multiple right answers, but I’m going to take the easy route with defensive end Robert Nkemdiche. I want to say offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, but Nkemdiche will play a lot of snaps from week one, while it will be more difficult for Tunsil to break into the starting lineup on the offensive line strictly because it is a tough position.
Bischoff: Based on the depth chart, it has to be Laremy Tunsil. The defense wasn’t great last year, but there are playmakers scattered throughout the depth chart. Head coach Hugh Freeze has said that depth is the biggest concern. Antonio Conner and Robert Nkemdiche will no doubt help the defense, but adding depth is their biggest attribute as freshmen. The offensive line is the weakest position for Ole Miss. They allowed 34 sacks last year, the fourth most in the SEC. Freeze’s scheme helped minimize this weakness by calling plays that didn’t take long to execute. Tunsil will be the first major step in upgrading the line.
McCord: Clearly the tight ends will be asked to do more than any other freshmen at any other position immediately. Outside of that, you could see Mark Dodson or one of the receivers like Quincy Adeboyejo or Laquon Treadwell make a quick impact. While I’m temped to say Christian Morgan or AJ Jackson, I’ll actually go with T emario Strong, a redshirt freshman. He looked really good in the spring and could be big for the defensive unit this upcoming season.
3. With the loss of Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner, who do you see potentially stepping up for Ole Miss in the post next season?
Collier: Head coach Andy Kennedy is going to need junior Aaron Jones to play with the emotion he did before his injury this past season, and senior Demarco Cox has to stay healthy and be the player he was recruited to be. If those two can play good, solid basketball, it will take pressure of the two highly touted 6-foot-9 freshmen Dwight Coleby and Sebastian Saiz. The big key will be for the experienced backcourt to take pressure off the frontcourt, but Coleby and Saiz need to be ready to make an impact early on.
Bischoff: Aaron Jones will be key to replacing the frontcourt duo. Jones has already shown the ability to provide high level defense and rebounding. Jones posted a defensive rebounding percentage of 14.4, compared to 16.7 and 21.2 for Buckner and Holloway. Jones also blocked 9.9 percent of shots while on the court, while Buckner blocked 10.3 percent and Holloway blocked 2.3 percent. For offensive rebounds, while on the court Jones grabbed 11 percent with Buckner 11.3 and Holloway taking 11.6 percent. With more minutes, Jones will reach similar per game averages as Holloway and Buckner. T o replace their scoring, I would expect Ole Miss to turn to the guards as the second option behind Marshall Henderson. Ladarius White will need to become a legitimate scoring option for the Rebels to replace Holloway and Buckner’s offense.
McCord: Aaron Jones was arguably the best rebounder on the team last year. With extended minutes, I think he should blossom, granted he makes a full recovery from his torn ACL. I say Jones here, but Sebastian Saiz is also a guy to watch. The most ready freshman in the class, he will be more of a scoring big.
4. What sports team do you believe was the most successful this season, not strictly based on record?
Collier: It would be easy to say the men’s basketball team because they finally got over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament, but I’m going to go with the football team. When Hugh Freeze took over the program, there was no accountability on the team and the depth was downright scary. However, Freeze got the majority of the team to buy in to his system and the team was three plays away from being the surprise team of the SEC. I expected the Rebels to be improved, but I never would’ve guessed they would make a bowl game in year one, so football gets the edge in my book.
Bischoff: The SEC champions. The basketball team knocked off their intense, new rival in Missouri. (Although that rivalry may only have lasted a year.) They defeated hometown Vanderbilt and one of the top teams in the country in Florida, all on their way to the SEC title. They didn’t waste Andy Kennedy’s first trip to the big dance as they knocked off defensive juggernaut Wisconsin before losing to La Salle. The football team was undoubtedly surprising, but success is not defined by BBVA Compass Bowls. The baseball team was one of the last 32 teams as well, but losing twice to William & Mary in regional play, by seemingly giving the games away, is not success.
McCord: While I take nothing away from the accomplishment of Hugh Freeze, he did an incredible job of motivating a team with some good pieces to fulfill their potential which is what coaching is all about, it has to be what the basketball team did. Andy Kennedy won the SEC Championship, after completing another 20-win season, and then proceeded to the round of 32, only missing the sweet sixteen by a few seconds. Ole Miss basketball took a huge leap forward this past season.
