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The University of Mississippi Athletics
ASK OLE MISS: Chris Vaughn Answers Your Questions
2/13/2009 | Football
ASK OLE MISS provides Rebel fans interactive opportunities with some of the key figures in Ole Miss athletics. The latest installment features assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator Chris Vaughn. Questions were sent in by fans through OleMissSports.com over the past week, and Vaughn has addressed many of those in the following Q&A.
Q: Were you prepared to have this many recruits want to come play for the Rebels this year?
A: No. You go out in the spring and gather as many names as you can and you wonder which ones you really have a chance at. As the season started going, there was a difference in the type of athlete that we were able to get on later in the season than earlier in the season. It was definitely a blessing.
Q: Where do you see Ohio State transfer James Scott fitting into the secondary next season?
A: The biggest thing is that we do things differently than Ohio State. There is still a little bit of transition right there, just trying to learn how we do things and how we prepare, the type of work that we put in. They obviously do a good job, but it is a little different here. He's still getting his feet wet. The spring is going to tell a lot.
Q: When you recruit a prospect, at what point do you feel you are wasting your time and discontinue contact?
A: When it's harder to get them on the phone and they are harder to talk to on the phone. You would much rather put your time into someone that you have a relationship with because that is what is going to win out in the end.
Q: I thought the defensive backs did a great job covering Texas Tech's wide receivers man-to-man in the Cotton Bowl. Can we expect to see more of this next year, and what do you attribute the success in the bowl to?
A: Hard work by the players and them understanding what we are asking them to do a little bit better. The bowl practices really helped, especially with those guys being so young. Marcus Temple was a true freshman. It was Jeremy McGee's and Marshay Green's first year to play defense and Cassius Vaughn's first year to be a starter. Hopefully we can build on what we did in the bowl game, continue to compete and give people problems.
Q: What is the difference between recruiting to Ole Miss and recruiting to Arkansas?
A: The positive is where we are geographically in the SEC. It gives us a chance to tap into Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Memphis and West Tennessee a lot better than we did at Arkansas. Another thing is that we have a great state to recruit. We have a bunch of athletes in the state. Just the range of athletes that we can get to is definitely going to help. At Arkansas, geographically, we were a Big 12 school trying to recruit in southern states. Now we are in a true southern state, recruiting in southern states and that makes it easier.
Q: What do you think of the quality of JUCO players and especially JUCO corners and safeties in Mississippi?
A: I haven't seen all of them, but there are some very talented young men out there that we have to do a great job of evaluating. Not everyone fits what we are looking for. I think that's what is hard sometimes. Just because he's a good football player doesn't mean he fits what we are looking for at different spots. We have to do a good job of evaluating but there are good athletes in the secondary playing here in Mississippi.
Q: We signed quite a few DB's last year, and other than Marcus Temple, most did not see playing time in 2008. Which of these players, like Demareo Marr and Julian Whitehead, might be ready to challenge for playing time in 2009?
A: It is still a little early to tell that. This spring is going to be a big telling sign for us. Whichever guys come out and produce, we are going to get them on the field. Just like anything in recruiting, we have signed some kids to come in here right away and compete, just like Marcus Temple did (last season). Those guys will really need to take some big strides this spring to separate themselves and try to make a spot for themselves this season.
Q: How does the staff go about selecting which recruit to pursue amongst yourselves?
A: We gather all the information, pull out the film and watch it as a staff. Then we rank the guys - Here is the guy that we want first, and if you can't get that guy, here's the guy we want second, and so on.' By natural matriculation, you are going to lose guys and have a chance at other guys. Before too long, that list kind of takes care of itself. Whether kids commit somewhere else, or we don't think someone is going to make it academically, there are some factors that narrow the list down for us.
Q: How many of the signed recruits do you feel will have to be placed at junior colleges or prep schools?
A: At least 10 guys in the class, and we knew that ahead of time. One thing that I think is important is that we build great relationships not just at the high school level, but at the junior college level and the prep school level. There are a lot of good players that fall through the cracks and come back Patrick Trahan, who did a great job for us this season and Marcus Temple, who went to prep school, did a great job for us. There is no penalty to sign them, it helps us on signing day and we get a chance to really nurture those relationships with the junior colleges and prep schools. It's an investment that you will be finding out about in a year or two from now.
Q: Will next year's team have the leadership to continue to elevate their game?
A: We're building that now. We are going to find out during this offseason and during the summer. We feel like we will but, again, it just has to be done. We've got to sharpen them now and we have to coach them up to be the leaders we want them to be next season. This offseason is going to be big.
