For me, summer officially ends Thursday. Ole Miss reports Friday. The Rebels' annual Media Day is later that afternoon. Fall camp begins Saturday, and we at RebelGrove.com are planning to cover the beginning of the football season as comprehensively as ever before. My thoughts on camp, recruiting, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Bob Stoops' rant on Nick Saban, James Harden's ill-advised comments and more follow here, thanks to my dear friend Sandy Grass and the people at Grenada Nissan.
1. My seventh season on the Ole Miss beat begins Friday. I have to be honest here. When I started this job in March 2008, I didn't think I'd be here in August 2014. But here I am, as interested in a season as I've been since Auburn 2002 when a young but talented Tigers team started fall camp for a season that would debut in Los Angeles on Labor Day. I remember thinking that season, my sixth and final one on the Auburn beat, could go any number of ways. I thought 10 or 11 wins were possible, but I also wouldn't have been shocked at a 6-6 regular season. They were young. There was a new offensive coordinator, Bobby Petrino, and a new defensive coordinator, Gene Chizik. There was a fulcrum-type feel around the program. Auburn was about to either get a lot better or a lot worse.
The Trojans beat Auburn in that opener, 24-17, but it was clear the Tigers were on the cusp of something special. Auburn beat Syracuse in overtime, lost at Florida in overtime, whipped Nick Saban and LSU by 24 in Jordan-Hare Stadium, lost by three at Georgia and then used a third-string tailback to upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 17-7. That Auburn team finished with a 13-9 win over Penn State in the Capital One Bowl. Two years later, that young team went undefeated and became the poster boy for what was wrong with college football's playoff system.
Anyway, I have a similar feeling about this Ole Miss team as fall camp approaches. The Rebels, in my opinion, could win 10 games and be a real force in the SEC West. I wouldn't be shocked if Ole Miss was playing meaningful games in November. I love the way the schedule sets up. There's a quiet confidence around the program. Young talent has matured. There is veteran leadership at critical spots. The roster finally looks like one that belongs in the SEC. Hugh Freeze is in Year 3 of his tenure at Ole Miss. The transition is basically over. The buy-in rate is high. It's definitely his team.
Still, there are no guarantees. The offensive line depth is a major, major problem. An injury or two could be devastating, forcing a season-long shuffle. Watch the first quarter of the Egg Bowl. Then watch the next three quarters. Notice No. 78 isn't out there at left tackle for Ole Miss. Draw your own conclusions. After Evan Engram, there's not a proven tight end on the roster. Donte Moncrief will be missed; don't kid yourself. Ben Still and Robert Conyers are great kids and they just might grow into great players. Still, pardon the unintentional pun, Evan Swindall took a lot of experience as an SEC center with him when he graduated. There's a new kicker and a new punter.
In other words, there are plenty of reasons for Ole Miss fans to be excited, and there are plenty of reasons for the same fans to be worried. I'm interested to see how it plays out. I know you are too.
2. Who am I most interested in watching this August, you asked? (You didn't, but I needed a segue to Thought No. 2).
A. Freeze. He likely wants a physical camp, but he has to be careful. He has to thread the proverbial needle. He needs his team to be prepared for the rigors of the season, but having guys drop in fall camp won't make the Rebels a better team in Atlanta on Aug. 28.
B. Fahn Cooper. Can the junior college transfer win the right tackle job? Can he at least provide quality depth? Ole Miss needs an affirmative answer to at least one of those questions.
C. Denzel Nkemdiche. Can the linebacker bounce back from injuries and off-the-field issues to be the impact player/leader he once was? If so, Ole Miss' defense could be nasty. The Rebels can win without the older Nkemdiche, certainly, but he could make Dave Wommack's unit more dangerous.
D. Dayall Harris/Markell Pack. The two freshmen wide receivers have turned heads this summer, per sources. With Collins Moore out for a bit, there's an opportunity for one or both to make an early impact.
E. Anthony Alford/Fadol Brown. At times, the two transfers were two of the best athletes on the practice field for Ole Miss last fall. Now, they're eligible to play, and Wommack has big plans for both.
F. Mark Dodson/Jordan Wilkins. I expect I'Tavius Mathers and Jaylen Walton to have solid --- maybe spectacular, in Mathers' case, but that might be asking too much --- seasons. However, the Rebels likely need Dodson and/or Wilkins to emerge as a dependable ball-carrier. Running backs get banged up. The more depth a team has at that position, the better. Both showed flashes of brilliance in the spring.
3. Who do I expect to have breakout seasons, you ask? (I know, you didn't really ask, but you get the theme by now, certainly).
A. Robert Nkemdiche. I expect a lot of first-round 2016 NFL draft talk to be circulating by mid-October.
B. Quincy Adeboyejo. His hands have to become more consistent, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't have huge receiving numbers.
C. Laremy Tunsil. Someone put out a list of the top 100 college football players in the last week or so. I saw Tunsil at No. 70-something and couldn't take the rest of it seriously.
D. Derrick Jones. Tall corners who can run and jump and be physical at the line of scrimmage have bright futures on Sundays. Jones meets those criteria.
E. Marquis Haynes. He likely won't start, but the Hargrave Military Academy transfer was creating quite a buzz in the spring as a force off the edge for the Rebels' pass rush.
F. Bo Wallace. Just a feeling. He's healthy. He seems calmer, more focused. He has a chip on his shoulder. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just immensely jealous of his hair. But I've got a feeling Wallace is on the cusp of a huge senior season.
4. Who am I cheering for, you ask, understanding that we're not really allowed to cheer in this profession? (See disclaimers from Thoughts 2 and 3).
A. Collins Moore. He deserves a big season. He's been through a lot, and he might have the most dependable hands on the roster.
B. Daronte Bouldin. I hope he gets some meaningful reps in his redshirt freshman season. Like I said, you aren't supposed to cheer in this business, and I don't, but he's a great kid and I can't help but hope for good things for him.
C. C.J. Johnson. After missing virtually all of 2013 with a broken leg and then other complications, Johnson is fully healthy and poised to have a breakout season of his own this fall. His transformation as a person at Ole Miss has been incredible. I suspect I drive the UM Media Relations department nuts with my Twitter interactions with Johnson, but in my defense, we never talk about the Rebels and he frequently starts it with insults about the Cubs.
D. Wallace. I thought he was mistreated by some in the media last year, and while it clearly bothered him, he took the high road.
5. When I'm sitting in the media room waiting for Ole Miss to wrap up so we can conduct interviews, what other fall camp storylines around the SEC will I be watching closely, you ask? (I bet you're tired of this approach by now. I'm about to stop. I promise.)
A. Can Texas A&M replace all of that offensive firepower? My guts says no.
B. How does Saban handle the Alabama quarterback job. We'll read about the process and nothing being guaranteed and such, but let's get real: Jacob Coker didn't leave Florida State for Alabama without a really, really strong belief that he'd be the Tide's starter. Blake Sims has paid his dues and waited his turn, though, and these are the types of situations that can tear a locker room apart.
C. Can a true freshman win LSU's quarterback job? How quickly do Malachi Dupre and Leonard Fournette take prominent roles in the Tigers' offense? There's a lot of talent in Baton Rouge, but man alive, it's young.
D. Kurt Roper is being asked to be a savior of sorts in Gainesville. The Gators are really talented, but the pressure on Will Muschamp is intense. Florida has a feast or famine feel to it in 2014.
E. James Franklin gave Vanderbilt an edge the last few seasons. He's gone to Penn State, and the Commodores are also having to replace a quarterback and a world-class wide receiver. Derek Mason was impressive at SEC Football Media Days in Hoover, Ala., but he's got a whale of a job in front of him.
6. I realized late this week that I failed to write a commitment story on Gulfport, Miss., defensive back Jordus Smith, who will report to a junior college next August and then --- at least that's the plan --- report to Ole Miss either in one or two years.
"I felt at home at Ole Miss," Smith said. "It was a good experience for me. I love the coaching staff."
Smith, a 6-foot, 190-pounder, said he doesn't know which junior college he'll ultimately play for.
"They said they want me to keep my options open," Smith said. "I went to Coach (Hugh) Freeze's office and we were talking. If I make my grades and my ACT score, I can go to a junior college for one season and go straight to Ole Miss. Next year, they'll have a bigger class. This year they only have 15 scholarships."
Smith admitted his ACT is "poor. It really is. I take it again in September. I'm OK with my grades."
Ole Miss' faith in Smith, he said, is "very motivating. My mom already has my plan ready. She said I'm not going to have any free time. I'm going to grind and get it done. For right now, I'm pretty committed to Ole Miss. I really am. They gave me a chance. Other schools will wait until I get the grades, but Ole Miss gave me a shot and they're committed to me."
Smith said he's looking forward to his senior season at Gulfport, one that could see him play the role of jack-of-all-trades.
"I'm loyal to the team," Smith said. "I can help my team win games. I can play almost any position on the field. Right now, my coach has me working at quarterback. I'm playing some safety, some wide receiver."
7. Speaking of recruiting, I think some of the teeth-gnashing over Ole Miss' 2015 class is really unnecessary. First, as we've chronicled for a while now, there's not much room in this class. I posted some nuggets earlier in the week detailing where the Rebels stood with most of their remaining (known) targets (yeah, I know that begs a lot of questions, but I'm not sure I know the answers just yet), and Ole Miss is in solid shape. A couple of thoughts come to mind. First, the 2016 class inside and around Mississippi is absolutely loaded; much of Ole Miss' recruiting focus is on those kids. All signs point toward a phenomenal recruiting class signing with Ole Miss in February 2016. Secondly, Ole Miss is being deliberate. People close to the program know the atmosphere in Oxford will be/could be electric when Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State come to town. There will be loads of visitors for those four weekends, especially that Oct. 4 date with the Crimson Tide. Patience just might be a virtue for Ole Miss in this recruiting cycle, and people close to the program seem to know that.
8. Speaking of recruiting, Ole Miss could be in the middle of one of the more interesting college basketball recruiting sagas going. Memphis five-star center Skal Labissiere told CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish this week that he is considering following Emmanuel Mudiay's lead and foregoing college for a seven-figure deal overseas while he waits to become eligible for the NBA. Mudiay signed a $1.2 million deal to play in China instead of attending SMU.
"Overseas is an option," Labissiere told CBSSports.com while playing in an AAU event in Las Vegas last week. "I don't know yet for sure. We'll see. But that is a lot of money."
Last week in Philadelphia, Labissiere, who was born in Haiti and left that country only after his father rescued him from the rubble of the 2010 earthquake there, told SNY.tv he was considering numerous colleges, including Kentucky, Memphis, Ole Miss, Georgetown and North Carolina. Labissiere, 18, told SNY.tv he may transfer from Evangelical Christian for his senior season, but he said he still considers Memphis home and thus considers the Tigers a real option for college.
Mudiay, who was born in the Congo, headed overseas for what amounts to less than $1.2 million a year. He will reportedly return to the U.S. next spring to prepare for the NBA Draft, where he could be a top-3 pick in 2015.
It's a sign of things to come, in my opinion. More and more American high schoolers are going to want to cash in immediately rather than going to college. That might change if the NBA increases its age limit, but as long as kids just have to be one year removed from high school, taking big dollars to play overseas for one season is going to be more and more tempting.
9. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas --- among others --- were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday. I won't bore you here with my feelings about Maddux. No sports defection has ever hurt me more than Maddux's leaving the Cubs for the Atlanta Braves. Nothing was more sentimentally satisfying from a fan's perspective for me than seeing Maddux return to Chicago in the twilight of his career and win his 300th game in a Cubs' uniform.
Maddux and Glavine also serve as reminders that sometimes, great things require patience while they develop. Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 earned run average for the Cubs in his first season in the major leagues. Glavine was 7-17 with a 4.56 ERA in his first season with the Braves. Both men, obviously, developed into two of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game, dominating opposing hitters during the steroid era of baseball.
As a Braves hater, I always thought Glavine got too many inches off the outside corner. I never could hate Maddux. I tried, but I never blamed him for leaving (Larry Himes was an awful general manager; the Cubs never should have let it get to that point) and I caught myself cheering for him frequently.
The bottom line is this: Both Maddux and Glavine struggled mightily at first, but no one gave up on them. That patience paid off quite handsomely. Both were artists on the mound, dominant for more than a decade. On Sunday, they received their just rewards in the form of baseball immortality, something few could have seen coming during their disastrous debuts.
10. LeBron James announced this weekend he's going to wear his old number, 23, this season when he returns to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Good for James, I suppose, but I think I've finally hit the saturation point in the Summer of LeBron.
So has, it seems, Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, who told the Chicago Tribune this weekend that he is "happy for LeBron. He gets to go home; people are happy over there. I really hope we can kick his ass as many times as possible."
If Derrick Rose returns healthy and Pau Gasol gives the Bulls what they expect in the paint, Noah could get his wish. At the very least, the Chicago-Cleveland rivalry will be fun.
Speaking of guys unafraid to speak their mind, Houston guard James Harden likely didn't make any friends on the Rockets when he spoke to The Philippine Star last week, telling the publication, "Dwight (Howard) and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets. The rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team. We've lost some pieces and added some pieces. I think we'll be fine next season."
The Rockets, of course, lost Chandler Parsons to Dallas and traded Jeremy Lin to the Lakers while adding free agent guard Trevor Ariza.
I'm reminded again of one of the reasons, perhaps, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't go the distance to retain Harden two years ago. Harden is a gifted offensive talent, but those words won't make any friends in the locker room. Apparently Harden has learned from Howard, who once said of his former team in Orlando that the Magic was "a team full of people that nobody wanted."
Those comments played into Jameer Nelson's decision to sign with Dallas rather than Houston this offseason. Add Harden's ill-advised candor and the Rockets' future attempts to land a third superstar just might be more difficult than ever.
11. Bob Stoops once worked for Steve Spurrier. The Oklahoma coach apparently took some notes from The Visor. Stoops didn't like Saban's comments last week during ESPN's "Car Wash" when the Alabama coach referred to the Crimson Tide's loss to the Sooners in the Sugar Bowl as a consolation game that was difficult for his team to get motivated for.
"They didn't look like it was a consolation game on that first drive when they scored a touchdown and everyone thought they were going to rout us," Stoops told ESPN.com. "I've been in plenty of those (non-national title games). We've played in a bunch of national championship games, right? ... That's a good one. So that means I've got a built-in excuse the next time we don't play for a national championship?"
The win against Alabama also was gratifying for Stoops because he had previously questioned the overall strength of the SEC.
"They said 'the SEC this, the SEC that,' " Stoops told ESPN.com. "I said, 'You talk like all 14 teams are this, that and the other thing.' I said, 'You have to give credit to the first one or two that have won the national championship, but don't act like they're all doing that.' The year I said that, the bottom half of the league was like 0-36 against the top half of the league. The bottom half of the league isn't beating anybody. So they jumped on that I was getting on the bottom half of the league. Things circle and people only say what they want to hear. What I said wasn't false. The bottom half wasn't beating many people. That was my only point.
"After we (beat Alabama) I didn't have to hear anybody after that. That's the bottom line. Everybody had their computers loaded and their microphones loaded, and they had to delete it. That was it. It felt good; it was positive. Because I know everybody was ready to jump on us, on me in particular, on what I had to say, if we went the other way. That all had to be deleted. There's a little bit of validation in what I had to say. Fortunately it worked out in a positive way. I still believe in what I said. At the end of the day, we can play with anybody. And that was fairly evident. It wasn't fluky."
Note to Bob: Just in case you ever want a radio gig in Mobile, forget it. You're pre-emptively fired. You can't say anything about Alabama, even when it's 100 percent accurate. Trust me.
12. Just for my buddy Jeffrey Wright, here's my weekly Johnny Football update. Once again, Jeffrey, the news from Camp Manziel is troubling. As Yahoo.com's Frank Schwab reported, "At a time when the Johnny Manziel story should start to focus almost solely on football, some members of the Browns organization have turned it into another examination of his off-field life."
Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote a story, citing anonymous Browns sources, saying the team is "alarmed" by his actions since the draft. Manziel has been seen at various parties this offseason. The story said the team was worried enough about a photo of Manziel apparently rolling up a $20 bill that coach Mike Pettine told Cabot that he called the rookie quarterback, while the coach was on vacation in Hawaii, to get answers.
The Plain Dealer pointed out that tight-rolled bills are often used for drug use. Although there was no evidence in the photo that's what Manziel was doing, Pettine reached out to ask him about it. The Browns sources who talked to Cabot said the team was promised by Manziel before the draft that he would tone down his partying, and the Browns have been "stunned by his non-stop antics" since they took him.
"At the end of the day, I made some rookie mistakes ? there are some things I wish I could have gone back and done a little differently ? but I'm continuing to move forward and try and represent this organization and this team in a positive manner, in a positive light," Manziel said, according to the team's transcript. "I think there are definitely things that I can do moving forward to help me better act as a professional. At the same time, I'm still learning how to do that, still getting used to this role, still getting used to this league and still learning how to be a pro football player. I'm not in college anymore. There are things that I need to do better."
Cabot's story also said Manziel "regressed in practice after the first week of organized team activities," and the team thinks he wasn't dedicated enough to learning the playbook because he was flying around the country and partying. The story said he has already lost ground in the quarterback competition before camp starts.
Time to find a new hero, Mr. Wright.
13. As you all know by now, I'm training to run in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12. I ran 14 miles Sunday, wrapping up a 36-mile training week. That mileage increases to 37 miles this week, and with each passing day, I get more excited/wonder if I've lost my mind. As you also know by now, I'm raising funds for St. Jude's as part of my marathon experience. When St. Jude's approved my application back in late March/early April, I committed to raising $1,200. Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to raise that much. I apparently hide it pretty well, but I'm not exactly the most self-confident guy you'll ever meet. I'm working on it, but it's a daily struggle. Anyway, I figured I'd eat $400 or so, and that was OK; St. Jude's is a fantastic organization.
You've all proven me so very wrong. I've posted the link to my fundraising page here, on Twitter and on my personal Facebook page. The overwhelming response has come from this site, from you guys. People who I don't know have given large sums of money in my name to the kids of St. Jude's. On numerous occasions, I've been moved to tears (judge away; I've gotten more emotional and soft as I get older). The response has been touching, to say the least.
I don't want to embarrass anyone, but so many of you have been so kind. One of the RebelGrove.com subscribers pledged to donate $5,000 if I got to $10,000. I'd been stuck on $8,000 or so for a bit, so Friday, I decided I'd try another push here and on Twitter. In less than 24 hours, thanks to wonderful people like Stan Pielek, Hildon Sessums, David Collier, Jason Morgan, Hugh Gamble, Gaines Cooke, Rowland Roberson, Matt Payne, Donald Roten, Thomas David Hedrick, Wilbur Delashmet, Benjamin Maynard, Matthew Sharpe (who was getting married Saturday) and so many others, I blew past the $11,000 mark.
My boss at Yahoo!, Eric Winter, donated $750. A subscriber, Woody Craig, donated the $750 that pushed me to $10,000. He sent along a note. I hope you don't mind, Woody, if I publish it here.
"Neal, Thank you for supporting this cause. You and Chase do a fantastic job for Ole Miss fans, and you don't get enough credit. Thanks for being real and telling things how they are. I have a 14-month-old little girl and I can't imagine cancer being in her life. To all the kids at St. Jude's suffering, I pray that my small donation will help rid of this awful disease. My prayers are with those families."
Me too, Woody. I have three babies --- two girls (ages 13 and 11) and a 7-year-old little boy. They're completely healthy, thank God. I try to never take that for granted. Every Friday, St. Jude's sends me an email portraying beautiful little children fighting for their lives. This Friday, one of the children profiled was 3-year-old Matthew from Peoria, Ill. He loves super heroes, so the little guy puts on his cape and his gear every time he goes in for leukemia treatment. Sometimes he wears two costumes to better fight the cancer. Damn.
Little boys aren't supposed to battle leukemia. They're supposed to be outside, their capes flying in the breeze while they battle imaginary evil. They're not supposed to go inside for leukemia treatment. They're supposed to go in for cookies and lemonade.
"He's a tough little guy," his dad said on the video. "He's inspired me."
Matthew inspires me, too. He is a superhero. Over the last few months, you guys have inspired me as well --- more than I can really explain.
Thank you.
