Classes start at Ole Miss on Monday, meaning fall camp is essentially finished. At some point this week, the Rebels will launch into game-week preparations for the Sept. 5 opener against UT-Martin. Then it’s off to the races. This is another notebook-style 10 Weekend Thoughts, with entries on Fahn Cooper, Chief Brown, the Ole Miss wide receiver corps and more, plus my thoughts on Nick Saban’s odd media request and more. As always, 10 Thoughts are brought to you by Oxford-based RE/MAX agent Harry Alexander. Check out his website at www.harryalexander.com.
1. Fahn Cooper more than held his own in his first season in the Southeastern Conference last season, but he spent the season feeling like something was different.
By the time Ole Miss’ season was done with nine wins and four losses, Cooper knew what he needed to for his game to make the jump from good to elite. Cooper needed to lose weight.
Cooper played last season, he said Friday, at 325 pounds. He’s down to 300 now, and through two-plus weeks of fall camp, he can feel the difference.
“You can make decisions faster,” Cooper said. “In the SEC, that helps you out a lot.
“I’d never really been that heavy before. I was still working hard, but after the season when I really thought about it, I thought I could be a better player if I could get my weight back down.”
It helped, Cooper said, that he had company in the weight room when he did extra work this summer to get rid of the extra pounds. Aaron Morris, Jordan Sims and several other offensive linemen were on the same plan, and in this case, misery was indeed company.
“All in all, we probably lost 200-something pounds when you add it all up together,” Cooper said. “We all were working and pushing each other to lose this extra weight and be able to run this no-huddle offense efficiently.”
Cooper said he also focused on the mental aspect of the game during the offseason. Specifically, Cooper wanted to become a better pass-protector. He and fellow offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil spent the offseason watching a lot of NFL film, specifically studying the Seahawks’ Russell Okung, the Cowboys’ Tyron Smith and the 49ers’ Joe Staley.
2. Speaking of that no-huddle offense, Cooper’s words are a bit of a hint regarding what the Rebels are working on this August. Ole Miss, if Cooper’s words are any indication, are really focusing on tempo. Cooper said the Rebels are trying to get plays off with 10 seconds or fewer in between.
“We timed some of the plays when we do our red-ball period and we’re a lot faster,” Cooper said. “I think a lot of our guys on the offensive line losing all that weight has helped it a lot. We can get lined up faster and get the plays run faster. That just makes everything easier for the quarterback and it just causes chaos for the defense.”
3. Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack spoke to the media on Friday and talked a great bit about the Rebels’ depth on that side of the ball.
https://olemiss.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1794486
Cooper was asked who is the toughest Ole Miss defender to block. He answered diplomatically, giving credit for several Ole Miss defensive linemen. However, the interesting part of his answer had to do with the Rebels’ depth up front, as Cooper had praise for backup defensive tackle Breeland Speaks and others.
“Robert Nkemdiche is as good getting off the ball as anyone I’ve ever played, but guys like D.J. Jones are really strong,” Cooper said. “He’s actually a lot quicker than anybody realizes.”
4. Depth on defense is getting a lot of play this month in Oxford, and it’s not limited to the Rebels’ star-studded defensive line. Ole Miss’ defensive secondary is two-deep and then some. Veteran Chief Brown is working this preseason at free safety, rover and husky, though he said he’s getting the bulk of his work at rover and husky. Brown is also being asked to provide some leadership on defense, as replacing Senquez Golson and Cody Prewitt will be easier said than done.
“We lost Cody Prewitt back there and he definitely set the defense up and was the captain of the defense but we’ve got guys stepping up like Trae Elston and C.J. Hampton,” Brown said. “We know the defense so it’s not that much pressure.
“I think we definitely have depth. It’s definitely the deepest team we’ve had here in my four years. We’ve got depth at corner, rover, husky, the D-line definitely.”
5. That depth, at least on the defensive side of the ball, has raised expectations “really high,” Brown said. “You can see it in Coach Wommack. He comes in here every day fired up and wanting us to get better. We’ve got so much talent on this defense and people know we’re good. Now we have to go out there and prove ourselves.
“I think we can be even better. This defense can be really, really great, better than last year.”
Brown said the focus this month in the defensive meeting rooms has been improving from a year ago on third-down defense, creating more turnovers and doing a better job of stopping the run.
“The sky’s the limit for us,” Brown said.
6. There is depth at wide receiver for Ole Miss as well, though Rebel wide receiver coach Grant Heard intimated Friday he doesn’t have quite as much as he’d like. Heard said in an ideal world, he would have a stable of eight wide receivers in rotation. He said he can make do with six or seven, but he declined to name how many he’s confident with as of this point in fall camp.
Heard said he’s not sure what Collins Moore’s role will be, only that he’s confident he’ll eventually have one. As for his freshmen, Van Jefferson and DaMarkus Lodge, Heard offered only that they’re performing “like freshmen.”
Heard was far more positive about Laquon Treadwell, noting the junior All-SEC standout is “still the big, strong Treadwell that we all know. He still is hard to bring down. He still knows how to use his size.”
He’s also high on Washington transfer Damore’ea Stringfellow, noting that the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Strinfellow has “been practicing great. Initially, getting the plays down was a little bit slow for him because he was on the scout team last year. But having spring and fall, he’s been great. I expect him to make that rotation somehow, some way.”
7. Athlon magazine polled writers all over the Southeast to compile a ranking of the top players in the SEC. The results can be found at this link.
http://athlonsports.com/college-football/ranking-top-15-players-sec-2015-experts-poll
I was one of those writers polled. Here was my top 15, as requested by Athlon:
1. Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
2. Laremy Tunsil, OT, Ole Miss
3. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
4. Robert Nkemdiche, DL, Ole Miss
5. Cameron Robinson, OT, Alabama
6. Vernon Hargreaves III, CB, Florida
7. Dak Prescott, QB, Mississippi State
8. Carl Lawson, DE, Auburn
9. Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss
10. Duke Williams, WR, Auburn
11. Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
12. Reggie Ragland, LB, Alabama
13. A'Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama
14. Tony Conner, DB, Ole Miss
15. Alex Collins, RB, Arkansas
8. I talked to Ole Miss basketball coach Andy Kennedy at Ole Miss’ football practice this past Tuesday. His players were reporting this weekend but Kennedy was already excited about the progress Stefan Moody had made since his surgery to repair a stress fracture in his leg.
Kennedy said Moody had been cleared to fully participate in drills and workouts. Days later, Moody released a video of him dunking. Moody’s lack of size means he has to rely on his athleticism, and if Kennedy’s words and Moody’s video are any indication, the All-SEC guard is going to be just fine in that regard this season.
Kennedy said he was also pleased with the success forward Anthony Perez has had playing for the Venezuelan national team this summer. That success, Kennedy said, can only build Perez’s confidence, and Perez is a player who depends on confidence to thrive.
9. I was going to use this space to give my NFL picks (playoffs, Super Bowl, MVP, etc.), but I’m putting it off a week. We are going to have Inside the League’s Neil Stratton on the Oxford Exxon Podcast on Tuesday, so I’d like to pick his brain first in hopes that it mitigates the horrific nature of my picks to be.
Instead, I’ll use this space this week to make an observation about recruiting. As reported by Rivals.com’s Andrew Bone, Morton, Miss., 2017 athlete D.D. Bowie appears to be backing away from his commitment to Alabama a bit.
As Bone noted, Bowie has not returned to Tuscaloosa since his commitment, but has visited other programs including Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
"I haven't talked to the coaches in a while," Bowie told Rivals.com. "I lost my phone, so I haven't been able to call them. I will be going over there for the first game though. I plan on going to several games.
"I think they are going to be pretty good this year. Probably not as good as last year though. I know I am going to be watching their receivers."
Bowie said the main schools he is talking to are Ole Miss and Mississippi State, noting the Rebels and Bulldogs haven’t backed off at all since an early-spring commitment to Alabama.
"I am still debating where I am going to go,” Bowie said. “I committed to Alabama because I really like the wide receivers coach (Billy Napier). I like Ole Miss and Mississippi State because it's just home to me."
I’m not going to make fun of Bowie or criticize my employer for covering these stories, but I find it increasingly difficult to put much stock into the commitments of prospects who have more than 17 months to go until they can sign national letter-of-intent. I live with a high schooler; trust me, the overwhelming majority aren’t thinking that far ahead.
I’ll be surprised if Bowie doesn’t end up signing with Ole Miss or Mississippi State.
10. Speaking of Alabama, Nick Saban had an odd request for media covering the Crimson Tide last week.
According to the Tuscaloosa News' Aaron Suttles, "Alabama has requested that the media not report on what is seen at practice." Suttles said Alabama’s request revolves around reporting injuries, although the request is more far-reaching than that.
I understand Saban doesn’t want every injury out in the public domain. If that’s the case, however, he should completely close practices. As a reporter, if I’m at practice and see a player injured or sitting out because of an injury, I’m going to report it. If the school doesn’t want those reports published, it should close all practices and refuse comment on any and all injuries. For me, it’s really that simple.
Here are some leftover links of interest to me _ and hopefully to you as well _ for your enjoyment:
Alabama’s quarterback situation remained blurry after Saturday’s scrimmage.
http://coachingsearch.com/article?a...ama-quarterback-battle-after-second-scrimmage
Might Kansas be in the SEC one day? Chadd Scott thinks it’s possible.
http://www.sportsdaynow.com/greg-sankeys-eye-opening-conference-expansion-comments/
Former NFL linebacker doesn’t trust the league at all.
http://www.barstoolsports.com/chica...flow&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
Kevin Durant says we shouldn’t listen to the rumors.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....-plans/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 10 years ago, changing lives permanently. How did Katrina impact the course of LSU basketball? It likely cost the Tigers point guard D.J. Augustin, now with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/08/dj_augustin.html
Baseball fever is growing again in Montreal.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/1...l-with-hope-of-a-new-team.html?referrer=&_r=0
Have a great week.
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