Many things have happened to validate Ole Miss’s place among the nation’s top college football programs since Lane Kiffin left for LSU.
New coach Pete Golding and his staff retained most of its key 2025 starters that advanced to the college Football Playoff semifinals, built the No. 2 transfer portal class and kept together a top 25 high school recruiting class.
All of those are things programs like Alabama and Ohio State do on a regular basis. One thing that Golding and the Rebels did was flip one of the top-rated wide receivers on the last day of the early signing period.
Greene County (Leakesville, Miss.) Jase Mathews flipped his commitment from Auburn to Ole Miss after the coaching change. It showed Golding and his staff can recruit like the best programs.
Mathews was the No. 5 overall player in Mississippi and No. 11 wide receiver in the nation. The Rebels beat Auburn, Texas A&M and (no surprise here) LSU for Mathews’ signature.
4-star WR Jase Mathews signs with Ole Miss.
Despite verbally committing to Auburn, one of the top receivers in the class flips to play for the Rebels. pic.twitter.com/6lBtD2lm4b
— Matt DeGregorio (@Matt_DeGregorio) December 5, 2025
“After late last year I had to make some changes and I felt good here (at Ole Miss),” Mathews told Rebels247.com. “Getting to be there for a week and getting around it, I know I made the right choice. It’s where I need to be.”
Mathews told Rebels247 that he moved to Oxford three weeks, but went home when Winter Storm Fern wreaked havoc. Being at Ole Miss will help Mathews recover from an ACL injury that ended his senior season after just three games.
“I’ve been attacking PT just trying to get it right back under me,” Mathews said. “I think it’s still too early to tell when. If I had to guess a time, I’d say around the summer.”
Being in Oxford has more benefits than rehab and recovery. Mathews is building relationships with his teammates and starting to learn the Rebels’ playbook.
“Going up there to make connections with my teammates. Getting around the playbook, just getting the early jump on things. Better to be too early than to be too late,” Mathews said. “I just want to get better. I got a lot of things in my craft that I need to work on. If I work on those things to get better, then I’ll set other goals ahead. I’m taking one step at a time.”
One of the newest Rebels already has a connection with Mathews. Quarterback Deuce Knight and Mathews got to know one another when Knight was on the Tigers’ roster and Mathews was a Tiger commit.
“We’ve known each other for quite some time,” Mathews said about Knight. “Growing up not too far from each other. I had to play against him in high school, so I’ve seen (Knight’s) talent for a long time. I know what he can do.”
Mathews will be part of a vastly different looking wide receivers’ room next season. Ole Miss added Johntay Cook, Darrell Gill, Isaiah Spencer, Horatio Fields and Cameron Miller in the transfer portal to join Deuce Alexander, Caleb Odom and Caleb Cunningham already at Ole Miss.
