Freeze taking ownership of Rebel program

[Po Monkey Lounger]

Due to attrition, poor recruiting decisions by the previous staff, etc. , the Rebels had less than 70 scholarship players on the roster this past season --- Freeze's first as the Rebels' head coach. This was true, even after Freeze's first signing class in Feb of 2012.

Thus, there were a lot of scholarships available to give this season, especially when you combined the ones available for the early December signing period which did not count against the normal full 25 available for the Feb 2013 signing date. The Rebs had approx 31 total scholarships to give this recruiting season. And I don't think they used them all, thus there should be 2-3 remaining to use for next December or for any late recruits this spring or summer.

Ole Miss will have a large senior class on the team this fall. Once they graduate, most of the remaining players on the team will be players that Freeze recruited and signed. Freeze will be able to sign the maximum number again in Feb 2014. . And with respect to the ones signed by the previous staff, most will have been developed, for the most part, by Freeze and his staff.

Thus, the normal 3-4 year window that new coaches have before a team really becomes full of players recruited and signed by the new coach, is going to be compressed into an approximate two year time frame for Freeze.

Freeze has already put his stamp on the Rebel football program, and is pretty much going to own it, for better or worse, after this coming fall and the 2014 signing date.
The transition is happening very fast. And the youth movement has been fun to watch so far.

[JaMak84]

Without the benefit of having an extra year or two to blame the previous guy, does Freeze beat the average? I knew there had been a lot of turnover in the coaching department since Brewer, but a 3.5 year average in coaching change doesn't instill much confidence.

[webbmaster]

What type of confidence will be instilled after a late August loss to Vandy?

[Po Monkey Lounger]

I think Freeze will be at Ole Miss for quite a while. There are no unreasonable expectations for numbers of wins and losses at this time. Most Reb fans realize that the Rebs will have a difficult time winning more games next year than this one. Continued improvement at this point may mean adding just one more win to the win column than last season.

The season opener against Vandy will be a big game for the Rebels. A win will likely be necessary for a successful 2013 season. I am sure that Freeze will have us ready to play. I like our chances of starting the season 1-0.

The point I was making is that the Rebels could be on an accelerated track toward significant improvement due to the circumstances I stated, most likely making the jump during the 2014 season. Freeze's immediate task will be to keep moving the team forward with continued improvement ( whatever that looks like from a wins and losses standpoint), getting our young talented players some quality PT and experience, and putting together another great recruiting class for 2014.

[skywalker]

MSU last yr now Ole Miss this yr..........when will they ever learn?

[Deltamud77]

I think Freeze might turn out to be the new iconic coach at Ole Miss...if Les Miles is the new Charlie Mac, freeze may be the new Johnny Vaught. Problem is Bama has the new Bear as well.

It will be interesting to see it play out.

One thing is certain, everyone is playing for 2nd in 2013.

[4dawgma]

I have waffles, your argument is invalid...