August is here, and that means Ole Miss football is starting to come into focus. The Rebels are set to open the season against Louisville on Sunday, September 6th, and fall camp will only sharpen the spotlight on a team that looks very different under first-year head coach Pete Golding.
That anticipation has already shown up in the preseason polls. Ole Miss was slotted third in the SEC Media Preseason Poll, and a big reason for that respect is the group of returning starters back in the fold.
On Tuesday, the Rebels added more preseason hardware to the conversation. Defensive tackle Will Echoles and offensive guard Patrick Kutas both landed on the Outland Trophy Watch List, which goes to the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman and is presented by the Football Writers Association of America. Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano won it last year, and no Ole Miss player has taken home the award.
Echoles is coming off a strong season in which he finished with 68 total tackles and five sacks. He’s positioned to be the anchor up front for Ole Miss and looks like a legitimate contender.
Kutas, meanwhile, is part of an offensive line that largely stayed together through the offseason. Delano Townsend and Brycen Sanders are back as well, though the tackle spots still carry some uncertainty.
The honors didn’t stop there. Defensive end Suntarine Perkins and Echoles were also named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, which recognizes the nation’s top defensive player.
Last season’s winner was Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Finalists for the award will be announced on November 19th, with the winner revealed on December 7th.
If Perkins or Echoles were to win it, they would be the first Ole Miss player to do so.
Perkins has his own big-season buzz after posting 4.5 sacks in 2025, and his role could shift this fall. He may be used off the edge or moved around depending on the matchup. Either way, he and Echoles are expected to be central figures in Golding’s defense, and the preseason recognition backs that up.
Ole Miss also got offensive names on the radar. Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy were both included on the Maxwell Award watchlist after drawing plenty of preseason attention. The two are expected to form one of the top offensive pairings in college football, with Heisman finalist potential if things break right over the course of the season.
The talent is clearly there. Now the Rebels have to prove it between the lines.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Gets Its First Real Hype Test Under Pete Golding
The preseason spotlight is about to get a little brighter around Oxford, with the 2026 US LBM College Football Coaches Top 25 poll set to be released Aug. 4. USA TODAY Sports will unveil the rankings live on YouTube, and for Ole Miss, it figures to be the first real public check on how the program is viewed as it enters the Pete Golding era.
Ole Miss is expected to land in the preseason poll, which would add another layer of expectation to a schedule that already has plenty of intrigue. Louisville and LSU headline a slate that also includes Charlotte and Florida, and the ranking on release day should offer an early read on how much respect Goldings first Rebels team is getting before a snap is played. [Read more 🡒]
John David Baker Faces Huge Ole Miss Pressure Right Away
Pete Golding is settling into his first full season as Ole Miss defensive coordinator, and on the other side of the ball, John David Baker is back in Oxford with a title that comes with immediate scrutiny. Baker arrives after helping reshape East Carolinas offense, and now he is being asked to guide a Rebels unit built around quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, with the same up-tempo identity that has defined this program in recent seasons.
The pressure is not just about keeping the pace where Ole Miss wants it. Baker has to make sure the offense stays efficient while leaning more on the run, a shift that can look simple on paper and becomes a lot harder once SEC defenses start forcing decisions. With Golding beginning to put his stamp on the defense, Ole Miss is counting on Baker to settle in quickly and keep the offense moving without losing the edge that made it dangerous in the first place. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Enters Fall Camp With One Defense Defining Battle
Fall camp opens Aug. 6 with Ole Miss beginning a new era under Pete Golding, and one of the first places to watch will be along the defensive front. The Rebels are trying to sort out a useful rotation at EDGE, a spot that has to generate more disruption if this defense is going to look different from last season. A projected depth chart already gives some shape to the battle, with Jonathan Maldonado and Kam Franklin penciled in as starters.
What makes the group interesting is the mix of body types and styles competing for snaps, which should give Golding a few ways to build packages once the pads come on. Ole Miss does not just need one standout edge presence, it needs enough dependable pieces to keep pressure coming in waves and hold up over a full game. The next few weeks should reveal which players can turn that promise into a real rotation, and which ones will be waiting for another chance down the line. [Read more 🡒]