OXFORD - For Jehiem Oatis, coming back to Mississippi meant more than football. It meant home-cooked food, family time, and a chance to settle back into familiar ground.
The Ole Miss fifth-year defensive tackle, a Columbia, Mississippi native, said the draw of home was a big part of what brought him back. Oatis came to college as a four-star recruit in the 2022 class and started his career at Alabama under then-defensive coordinator Pete Golding. He opened 10 games as a true freshman and piled up 55 tackles across his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide.
His path changed in 2024, when he played in just four games before transferring to Colorado for the 2025 season. With the Buffaloes, Oatis started four games and finished with nine tackles in 11 games overall.
Now back in the state where he grew up, Oatis said the everyday comfort of being around his people mattered just as much as the football fit.
“We cook a little thicker. The food is a little thicker,” Oatis said with a smile. “So, that was my thing, just the food taste.”
He also pointed to the pull of being close to the people he knows best.
“In addition to the opportunity to reunite with his friends and family and play in his home state, Oatis admits the style of food Mississippi provides has its draw, too.”
Ole Miss believes Oatis can help strengthen a defensive line that already includes juniors Will Echoles and Kam Franklin and senior Jamarius Brown, along with transfer additions senior Jordan Renau (Alabama), senior Blake Purchase (Oregon), fifth-year Jonathan Maldonado (Nevada), junior Michael Boireau (Florida) and Oatis. Even with those pieces in place, he said he still sees room to grow and wants to fit into what the Rebels have already built.
“I’m not trying to take over,” Oatis said. “I’m here to join you all and learn what you all do.”
As a freshman at Alabama with Golding as his defensive coordinator, Oatis put together a career-high 58 tackles and had two tackles-for-loss. Golding later joined Ole Miss’s staff as defensive coordinator prior to the 2022 season and was elevated to head coach following the conclusion of the 2024 regular season when Lane Kiffin took the LSU job.
The connection between Golding and Oatis has remained strong.
“Golding is somebody who’ll be real with you,” Oatis said. “He’s somebody you can walk up to, ask about something if you have a problem.
Pete is a guy who will be honest. He’ll sit down and lead you the right way.”
Columbia sits about four hours south of Oxford, and that distance helped shape Oatis’s decision to enroll at Ole Miss after his stop at Colorado.
“Just being back in Mississippi will give my family opportunities to come up here and spend time with me, take them out to eat,” Oatis said. “Just hang out, have fun.”
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