Ole Miss left SEC Media Days with more than just buzz around Pete Golding’s first season at the helm. The Rebels also walked away with a strong showing in the preseason honors, a sign that the league’s media sees plenty of talent spread across this roster.
The biggest headline for Ole Miss came in the team projections, where the Rebels were picked to finish third in the SEC. Georgia landed at No.
1, Texas checked in at No. 2, and Ole Miss stayed right in the thick of the conference race. That kind of placement keeps the Rebels in the title-game conversation and reflects the confidence that Golding has enough depth and quality to hang with the SEC’s best.
Golding’s message throughout the week stayed consistent. With plenty of questions surrounding the staff, his approach, and what last season meant, he kept steering the focus back to the players.
His emphasis was on accountability, relationships, and building a culture that connects returners and transfers into one group. The Rebels have already shown that their identity comes from how they operate, not from what the outside script says.
That team-first image showed up again in the preseason All-SEC picks. Trinidad Chambliss was named a 1st Team All-SEC selection, and he was joined there by Kewan Lacy and Will Echoles, all three of whom represented Ole Miss at media days.
On the 2nd Team All-SEC, the Rebels landed defensive standout Suntarine Perkins and kicking king Lucas Carnerio. Patrick Kutas and Kam Franklin were placed on the 3rd Team All-SEC.
The chatter around Ole Miss has also included the comparison between Arch Manning and Trinidad Chambliss, but that debate may not really be settled until October 24, when the two teams meet at Longhorn Stadium. That matchup could end up saying plenty about both players and about which program deserves a spot near the top of the league.
For now, Ole Miss heads toward the 2026 season with recognition across the roster and a clear message from its coach: the predictions matter less than what happens once the games begin.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Staff Is Suddenly All In On Landon Barnes
Landon Barnes has already started to draw attention inside the Ole Miss program, and it is not hard to see why. The four-star defensive end arrives with the kind of frame and upside that coaches like to talk about early, and the staff has been quick to point to his physical development as a reason he could help right away on the defensive line.
Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown has been especially bullish on Barnes, signaling that the freshman is more than just a long-term project. Ole Miss expects him to factor into the rotation this fall, and with his first camp set to begin Aug. 6, the next step is seeing how quickly that promise turns into production against SEC competition. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Suddenly Has A Player In College Footballs Biggest Money Talk
The NIL economy in college football keeps rewriting the financial map, and Ole Miss has a player right in the middle of it. Trinidad Chambliss, a former Division II standout from Ferris State who helped lead the Rebels to a 13-1 finish and a College Football Playoff semifinal in his first season in Oxford, is now being mentioned among the sports biggest earners, with a valuation that puts him in rare company.
What makes the number stand out is the company it keeps. Chambliss is projected to out-earn LeBron James this season, a striking reminder of how quickly college football money has surged past what used to be unthinkable comparisons, and it leaves one of the more interesting questions in the sport hanging in the air: just how much higher can this market go? [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Camp Just Put Pete Golding's Biggest Early Test Here
Ole Miss has opened fall camp with Pete Golding getting his first real chance to shape the program the way he wants it, and the early days are already offering a glimpse of how he plans to run things. The focus is on the basics that matter most in August: position battles, player development, and building a culture that can hold up in the SEC when the games start to count.
A few spots are already settling in, including the offensive line, where Terez Davis, Brycen Sanders and Patrick Kutas appear set in their roles even as the full combination remains in flux. The quarterback work will be watched just as closely, with Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy among the names to track as Ole Miss tries to find the right mix of command, chemistry and consistency before the season gets here. [Read more 🡒]