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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football To Begin Spring Practice Friday
2/22/2001 | Football
Feb. 22, 2001
OXFORD, Miss. - When spring football practice begins here Friday afternoon at Ole Miss, head coach David Cutcliffe admits it just might be the most important spring drills he's ever been through.
"It's really unusual to have a team where you don't have most of your starters already settled," Cutcliffe said. "However, it can also be a positive, because we will have competition at most positions."
Cutcliffe and his staff will have 15 days to practice this spring with the annual Red-Blue game set for Saturday, March 31. The Rebels are missing 25 lettermen off last year's team which finished 7-5 and helped Ole Miss become the only Southeastern Conference Western Division team to play in bowl games the last four years. Forty-nine returning lettermen will be participating in spring drills.
"The No. 1 goal of our coaching staff is to see how our linemen on both sides of the ball will respond," Cutcliffe said. "We have three redshirt freshmen on the offensive line who will get a lot of snaps. Our defensive line is also young with unproven players. Everything starts up front and it will be interesting to evaluate them."
Another major area of concern is the kicking game where Ole Miss lost place-kicker Les Binkley, punter Reagan King, and holder Ben Craddock to graduation.
"It's unusual to lose your place-kicker and punter in the same year," Cutcliffe said. "We hope to come out of spring settled at those two spots."
Offensively, the Rebels must replace quarterback Romaro Miller, a three-year starter who set new school career records for passing yards (6,311), TD passes (43), 200-yard passing games (18) and 250-yard passing games (8). Eli Manning returns after backing up Miller during the 2000 season, while David Morris finally returns to the quarterback mix after being redshirted last year. Morris was Miller's backup in 1999.
Cutcliffe admits he is concerned about the number of wide receivers available for spring drills, especially since there are only five scholarship players returning at that spot. "We have problems there with the way we like to practice," he said. "We need to stay healthy."
The Rebels must replace veteran wide receiver Grant Heard, who became one of the most prolific receivers in school history by setting career records for receptions (142) and TD receptions (16). Jamie Armstrong returns after starting all 12 games at flanker.
Although some veterans do return in the backfield, a challenge still remains to replace multi-talented Deuce McAllister, who set or tied 18 school records during his career with the Rebels. "It's easier to replace a tailback, but not when it comes to all the things he did for us," Cutcliffe said, recalling the all-purpose abilities that McAllister brought to the table.
Starting fullback Charles Stackhouse returns as does veteran Joe Gunn, who started three games at tailback when McAllister was battling various injuries last season.
Cutcliffe noted that not having a lot of people to work with on the offensive line could pose for some interesting days on the practice field this spring.
"We should have some healthy competition at those interior offensive line positions, while our tight ends return almost intact," Cutcliffe said.
Although the Rebels lost starting guards Shane Grice and Keydrick Vincent, center Ben Claxton, guards Terrence Metcalf and Belton Johnson, and tight end Doug Zeigler return to their starting roles. Junior Justin Sawyer, who has played tight end, as well as various spots in the interior offensive line during his career at Ole Miss, has been moved to center on a fulltime basis.
Defensively, Ole Miss must replace three of four defensive line starters. Tackle Anthony Sims is the lone returning starter up front after the loss of All-America end Derrick Burgess, tackle Antionne Scott, and end Shane Elam.
"We have a number of young players who need to be evaluated early," Cutcliffe said. "It's going to be very competitive up front. All of those positions are up for grabs this spring."
When it comes to the linebacker position, Cutcliffe is excited about the return of veteran starter Eddie Strong who missed last season with a foot injury. Lanier Goethie and Kevin Thomas are returning starters from the 2000 campaign.
"We're in pretty good shape at linebacker with some returning experience, but we still have to replace Chad Cook, Shawn Johnson, and Amzie Williams," Cutcliffe added. "All three of those guys played a lot of football for us." Johnson started 10 games, Cook three, and Williams three.
One of the top losses in the secondary was All-America cornerback Ken Lucas. The Rebels also lost strong safety Kenny Woods, but free safety Syniker Taylor and cornerback Justin Coleman do return to their starting spots.
"There should be some interesting battles in the secondary, because we do have lots of competition at all of those positions," Cutcliffe said.
With the loss of King and Binkley in the special teams area, two redshirt freshmen -- kicker Jonathan Nichols and punter Cody Ridgeway -- will get close evaluation this spring. Long-snapper A. J. Kiamie and kickoff specialist Lee Rogers return.
Although 21 players are in the 2001 senior class, only 12 are on scholarship, a fact which isn't lost by Cutcliffe.
"This team must be a team of great attitude, especially since we're still feeling the brunt of past probation," Cutcliffe said. "Having only 12 scholarship players in your senior class is pretty small."
Ole Miss will host six games this fall at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field. The season opener is set for September 1 against Murray State. Other home games will be against Vanderbilt, Alabama, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia.
