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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Recruiting Continues Rise Under Nutt
2/3/2010 | Football
| 2010 Ole Miss Football Signing Class | |
| Houston Nutt Press Conference |
By Thomas McKee
Media Relations Assistant
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss coaching staff, led by head coach Houston Nutt, has undoubtedly brought a new brand of football to Oxford in its first two seasons at the helm, and if today was any indication, it will only continue to get stronger.
Nutt and his staff put together another great signing class, as they added 22 Rebels Wednesday afternoon.
"I am really happy with the way things worked out," Nutt said. "This class is one of the highest ranked that we have ever been associated with. This group has great character and it gets me excited."
The Rebels brought in five defensive backs, four defensive linemen, four offensive linemen, three running backs, two wide receivers, two linebackers, one tight end and one quarterback.
The two-time defending Cotton Bowl Champions welcome players to Oxford from eight different states, including seven each from Mississippi and Florida.
"I thought we did our best recruiting in the state of Mississippi since we've been here," Nutt said of bringing some of Mississippi's best to Ole Miss.
Ole Miss' 2010 signing class has earned notoriety nationally, as it is currently ranked No. 14 by Scout.com and No. 17 by Rivals.com.
Houston Nutt's third signing class at Ole Miss is headlined by three defensive ends, Delvin Jones, Carlton Martin and Carlos Thompson.
The addition of those three, along with Madison native Bryon Bennett, and highly touted Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College transfer Wayne Dorsey, who inked with Ole Miss in December, means that the future of the 'landsharks' is bright.
"I feel like we have one of the finest defensive line groups that I can remember signing," Nutt said. "If you just look at their height, weight, character, speed, the playmaking ability of each one of these guys, man, we're excited to have them."
Jones, a 6-foot-3, 230 pound Miami, Fla. native, was rated as the No. 32 overall player in Florida and the No. 32 defensive end in the nation by Scout.com. As a high school senior, Jones recorded 66 tackles and 16 quarterback sacks.
Martin, a homestate kid from Madison, stands at 6-foot-2 and 268 pounds. Ranked as the No. 6 player in Mississippi and the No. 22 defensive tackle in the country by Rivals.com, Martin accounted for 76 tackles and five quarterback sacks.
Thompson is another highly-ranked defensive end from Mississippi. The Hollandale native was tabbed as the No. 4 player in the state and the No. 9 defensive end in the nation by Rivals.com. He amassed 71 tackles, including 15 quarterback sacks, as a senior in high school.
On the offensive side of the ball, Ole Miss added a versatile quarterback in Randall Mackey, who was the lone junior college transfer to sign Wednesday. The 6-foot, 190 pounder led the NJCAA with 3,122 yards passing yards and was second in the nation in passing touchdowns with 32. Rivals.com ranked Mackey as the No. 5 JUCO player in the nation in the 2010 signing class.
In the years to come, Mackey will look to connect with newly-signed wide receiver Vincent Sanders. The Macon native, standing at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, was rated as the No. 2 player in Mississippi and the nation's No. 15 wide receiver by Rivals.com. Despite missing four games, Sanders scored 13 touchdowns as a high school senior.
The Rebel coaching staff put in another year of hard work on the recruiting trail, and knows it has to do it all over again, but will savor this one for now.
"We have a good recruiting staff," Nutt said. "We work very hard at it, and I appreciate the organization starting with (recruiting coordinator) Chris Vaughn. Derrick Nix deserves to be the recruiter of the year in Mississippi and Terry Price needs to be in there too along with Tyrone Nix and James Shibest.
"I'm proud that we had the class that we signed today."
Along with Dorsey, his JUCO teammate Damien Jackson, a free safety, also inked with the Rebels in December. Both players are already enrolled in classes at Ole Miss.
That duo teams with Mackey to provide the Rebels with some impressive talent from the junior college ranks that could pay immediate dividends.
"One of the things that really stands out about the Ole Miss class is junior college help," Scout.com national recruiting editor Allen Wallace told the Associated Press. "They've got three of the top 20 junior college prospects. You won't find many schools that are performing that well. That's a significant addition to their group."
