Chad Kelly lines up under center. (Photo taken by Cameron Brooks_
Chad Kelly made it clear when he set foot on campus last spring that he wanted to rewrite his story. Over and over again he said it as he headed into a quarterback battle that lasted through spring practice, into fall camp, and into the first two games of the season.
He won the battle and altered his story, but he says there is still plenty to do.
“I’d say about chapter 13 or 14,” Kelly said with a smile in regards to where his story stands. “There’s more work to be done. We’re out here fighting every day and competing and we want to win every game.”
It’s Kelly’s team now. He doesn’t go to practice with the looming stress of a position battle, and it’s clear who is taking the first-team snaps. But that hasn’t altered his mindset as much as you might think.
“Every day you go out on the field it’s a competition no matter who is behind you or who is in front of you, you’re competing every day,” Kelly said. “You’re taking the first-team reps but every day you’re fighting every single rep to be the best, and that’s how you get better is having a competition mindset.”
The senior quarterback also has the luxury of throwing to a versatile receiving corps that will allow him to spread the field as well as spread the wealth in terms of who he targets.
“I think a lot of people will have the option to get the ball and make a lot of plays. You look at Damore’ea (Stringfellow),(DaMarkus) Lodge, Derrick Jones, Evan Engram, there’s weapons all over the field so it’s up to me to get them the ball and let them make plays and I’m excited about the opportunity with the weapons around me,” Kelly said.
Last season, with the exception of Laquon Treadwell who had 82 receptions, the next four receivers essentially had the same number of catches. Quincy Adeboyjo and Engram had 38, Cody Core had 37 and Stringfellow had 36.
“We have versatile guys. We have big guys outside that can run, and big guys that can go up get it,” Stringfellow said. “We’ve got fast guys, we have all types of different caliber receivers which is good to have because you never know what you’re going to get hit with.”
Ole Miss will need all hands on deck out of the gates this year as it opens with fourth-ranked Florida State on September 5 in Orlando, something that Kelly says it’s sharpened their preparation in camp compared to last year.
“I think we’ve approached this offseason differently than we have in the past year or two. We know Florida State is going to be a great team,” Kelly said. “They’re always a really good team in the ACC. They’re well coached and have great players so the mindset we have is to work hard and never take a day off because someone over there is working just as hard and maybe even harder.”
