A little over a year ago, the Ole Miss fan base was about as low as they could go.
They were looking for a change. They were looking for someone to come in and give them something to be proud of.
Enter Hugh Freeze.
In just over a year on the job, Freeze has turned a bottom-dwelling program in the toughest football conference in the country to a program that has gained an enormous amount of respect from their opposition, the media and the average sports fan.
That respect was won over partly on the gridiron, going 7-6 in year one, but National Signing Day really caught people’s eyes.
Ole Miss had the best ranked class in school history Wednesday, finishing in the top 10 of all four major recruiting services, including a No. 2 finish in the 247Sports.com rankings, and the excitement in Oxford is at a new high.
But the Rebel faithful need to temper their expectations.
Yes, signing a recruiting class of that caliber is what it is going to take to compete for championships in the SEC West, but one recruiting class won’t get it done.
Freeze and his coaching staff have already proven they can recruit with the best of them, but can they do it year in and year out?
Yesterday, Freeze talked about having ins with many of the big name recruits that Ole Miss was able to land, but next year or the year after, that luxury may not exist.
What this year’s class can do is give the notion to other top-billed prospects for the next few years that Ole Miss is a place that can land the best players. But it will also take more success on the field.
A number of the players in this recruiting class will make a big impact next fall.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they will be big playmakers or starters from day one, but they will provide solid depth for a team that returns most of their starters from a year ago.
The early part of the schedule is not kind for Ole Miss next season, but a bowl game should be expected, and eight or nine wins is possible.
Can they win more?
Sure, you never know what can happen in college football, but that shouldn’t be the expectation.
Many in Oxford are talking about the Rebels winning double-digit games next season. While that very well could happen, that’s not very realistic.
After all, where Ole Miss is right now is not unfamiliar territory.
Year one under Houston Nutt ended with the Rebels being named a preseason top-10 team. Three seasons later, Nutt was fired.
My point is, Freeze isn’t shooting for a season to remember-type year.
He’s building a program, and it takes recruiting classes to build that program. Not one class, but many classes.
