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It's not often in recent history that the Ole Miss football program has received as much adoration as it has entering the 2024 season. However, the Rebels look to be a real threat in the SEC and college football this year.
This might be the best overall roster that the Ole Miss football program has produced to date. In the new era of NIL and the transfer portal, that's not too surprising. And given the fact that Ole Miss has begun to excel in both of those areas, it's no surprise how talented and deep the roster is this year.
Head coach Lane Kiffin seems to have finally built the roster to his liking. Even Kiffin himself seems to have come into his own as a coach, now at the age of 49. Still, Kiffin and Ole Miss have a lot to prove if they want to be considered one of the elite programs in the conference. This is a program that hasn't won an SEC title since 1963 and has yet to even appear in the conference championship game, which was introduced back in 1992.
Capturing 11 wins last season, the first in program history, was one major milestone to check off the list. Ole Miss achieved a lot of that success through their talented starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was third in the SEC in passing yards (3,364) and fifth in touchdowns (23).
Dart looks to once again be a key component to the Rebels’ offense and overall success this year. But the ultimate X-factor of the team won't come from that side of the ball. It's the defense that will get Ole Miss football to where they really need to go.
Ole Miss football defense, led by Princely Umanmielen, set to be x-factor in 2024
It’s easy for any pundit to quickly point out, “Are you forgetting about LSU putting 49 points on Ole Miss last year? What about Georgia scoring 52?” Okay, sure, we can acknowledge that. Overall, the defense wasn’t terrible, but it has gotten a lot better this year—at least on paper.
You have to start with the transfer portal and two guys in particular: edge rusher Princely Umanmielen and defensive tackle Walter Nolen. Both were two of the most highly sought-after players in the portal, and the Rebels walked away with both, giving their defensive front a massive upgrade, literally and figuratively. No wonder Kiffin said this is the group his most excited to see in 2024.
Don’t forget, though, Ole Miss football had one of the better pass rushes in the country last year. They ranked No. 19 overall in team sacks with 35 and were No. 29 in tackles for loss with 82. Now, with Umanmielen, who had a 22.2 pass-rush win rate last season, per Pro Football Focus, and Nolen, Ole Miss just became even more dangerous up front.
Nolen is set to be a force in the middle of this group, alongside returning linemen Jared Ivey and JJ Pegues. Ole Miss also added Alabama cornerback Trey Amos and Arkansas linebacker Chris Paul Jr. from the portal, both of whom were top-name transfers.
As good as all these additions sound, that’s a whole lot of new on one side of the ball, not to mention at nearly every level. Building a cohesive unit with chemistry will be essential when they have to travel to LSU and host Georgia.
Kiffin’s teams have a stigma of having poor defenses, being offensively centric teams. Never mind that Kiffin’s hiring of former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding last offseason was met with much criticism. The offense should be no problem for this team, but the defense now has every capability to do its part in helping Ole Miss football get to the next level.
