Photo: The Daily Mississippian.
National Signing Day has come and gone, and Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze is well on his way to building a contender in Oxford. The Rebels wrapped up the 2014 recruiting class Wednesday with the addition of 26 players, including early enrollees.
It didn’t have the star power and media attention the 2013 season had, but the 2014 class ranks as one of the top recruiting classes in program history.
“I’m thrilled with our class,” Freeze said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “The job that our coaches did in building relationships with the prospects, their families and others in their circle that they lean on in deciding which college to attend. I thought our coaches did a phenomenal job in building those relationships that withstand the recruiting process. It’s definitely a grind and a challenge.”
Ole Miss ended the day ranked as high as No. 14, according to 247Sports.com, and as low as No. 19, according to Rivals.com. They also finished the day ninth in the Southeastern Conference.
The Rebels had a total of 19 players who were ranked a four-star prospect or higher on at least one of the main recruiting services. So, although they missed out on some guys they had a shot with on Wednesday, Ole Miss has a class full of talented players.
“Obviously, we lost a few battles with some really good schools that we were in at the end with some really good players,” Freeze said. “We’ve reminded ourselves every day this week that our focus is on the players that we get because those are the Rebels. Those are the ones that chose to come with us. Our concentration will be on the many, many great players.”
This was Freeze’s second full recruiting class since taking over the Ole Miss football program. When he was hired, Freeze said it would take three full recruiting classes before he felt it was really an SEC roster. He said they’re “close,” and raved about the speed they brought in.
Going into this recruiting season, the coaching staff had very specific goals.
“We set out a goal to capture our state and the top guys in it, first,” Freeze said. “Then, we identify positions of needs. We were able to accomplish both of those things in this class. It added significant depth to our young football team, particularly at certain spots.”
It’s safe to say the Rebels accomplished both of those goals.
Ole Miss signed seven of the top 10 players in Mississippi, according to ESPN, and six of the Clarion Ledger’s Dandy Dozen.
As for identifying positions of need, the Rebels did that with the addition of five offensive lineman, five defensive lineman and three defensive backs. Ole Miss also added a good group of junior college players that Freeze expects to make an immediate impact.
“We think that the JUCO route solved some immediate needs like at linebacker with Christian Russell and with the big, physical tailback Akeem Judd,” Freeze said. “We decided we needed another corner about a week ago and were able to get a great talent like Tee Shepard to join us. We also got offensive tackle Fahn Cooper. Those are positions that were of great need to us.
“Jeremy Liggins, I’m not sure exactly where he fits, but he improved our football team. What a great talent that he is. He’s a winner. I love what I see with his work ethic right now, as with the other midyear high school enrollees. We’ll fulfill some great needs.”
Shepard was the surprise of signing day. After missing out on some possible surprises, Ole Miss was able to land Shepard, a four-star cornerback from Holmes Community College, after he committed to in-state rival Mississippi State this past Sunday.
Freeze said they recruited Shepard “very heavily” in the fall, but the contact between the two parties cooled off when it looked as though Shepard was going to head back out west. However, he ended up back at Holmes for the spring semester and the talks began again a little over a week before signing day.
“I like him, and I think he can contribute to us,” Freeze said. “He was really the one we had the best relationship with, even though we had taken a hiatus from his recruitment for a brief period of time. We immediately started doing what we do in most cases, recruiting the mom, the dad, his high school coach and him.
“I was very clear with Tee at the beginning. If you have no interest, I certainly don’t want to muddy the water. If so, we’ll move on elsewhere. We had a plan B that we could have gone to, but he continued to go down the road with us.”
The drama didn’t end with Shepard, as Ole Miss received a national letter of intent from junior college athlete D.J. Law. However, Law had apparently sent a signed letter of intent to Utah as well. It will depend on what school validated the letter of intent first to determine who has the valid one.
But overall, it was another big time class.
Sure, everyone enjoys having the spotlight on National Signing Day like the Rebels did last year, but if Freeze and his staff and consistently find themselves inside the top 15 or 20 with an occasional push into the top 10, Ole Miss can compete in the rigorous SEC West.
Freeze did exactly what he wanted to do in his first two seasons at the helm, and on Wednesday, he got a pretty strong start to Chapter Three.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss football, follow @DavidLCollier and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— David Collier
thedmsports@gmail.com
