The shark emoji watch came to an end Friday night.
Darrell Mattison committing to Ole Miss on Friday is more than a nice recruiting win. It’s the kind of addition that shows what Pete Golding and Ole Miss are capable of in today’s new college sports landscape.
Mattison, a four‑star safety from Chicago’s Morgan Park, is the kind of player Ole Miss used to chase and hope for. Now he’s the kind of player Ole Miss actually gets. He’s ranked No. 244 nationally in the 2027 class, No. 23 among safeties and No. 11 in Illinois, and he didn’t exactly come from a soft recruitment.
BREAKING: Four-Star Safety Darrell Mattison has Committed to Ole Miss, he tells me for @Rivals
The 6’2 165 S from Chicago, IL was previously committed to Michigan
“Shark Business🦈”https://t.co/k8r7t6CvSG pic.twitter.com/Zy3OYZIOO5
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 23, 2026
Michigan had him committed earlier this spring. Indiana pushed hard. Other Big Ten and SEC programs stayed involved. This wasn’t a case of Ole Miss swooping in late on a quiet recruitment. This was a national kid with national options.
And that’s the point. Mattison decommitted from a historical blue blood, reopened things, and still chose Ole Miss over a mix of traditional powers and the newer-age risers like Indiana.
“Ole Miss just felt right for me,” Mattison said. “The coaches were real with me from the start and made me feel like a priority. I could see myself growing there on and off the field, and I feel like they can help me get to the next level. The energy around the program, the fans, and the way they play defense all stood out to me. Everything about it felt natural and felt like home.”
It still feels strange to call Indiana a football threat, but the Hoosiers have been playing and recruiting like one. Mattison had every reason to look around. Instead, he picked Oxford.
Ole Miss first offered him back in November, and the relationship never cooled.
His junior season only made him more appealing. Mattison posted 47 tackles, five interceptions, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery last fall, showing the kind of range and ball skills that fit exactly what Pete Golding wants on the back end.
Programs like Vanderbilt, Missouri, Louisville, Illinois, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Nebraska all saw the same thing and offered.
But Ole Miss closed it.
That’s the part that should stand out to fans. This is what recruiting looks like when a program has real staying power. You identify a national defensive back early, stay consistent, survive a commitment elsewhere, and still win the race when it reopens.
It’s the type of recruiting outcome that used to feel out of reach for Ole Miss. Now it feels like part of the plan.
Mattison is a good player. His commitment is a good headline. But the bigger story is what it says about the Rebels’ recruiting ceiling. Ole Miss isn’t just in the room for these battles anymore. It’s winning them.
Ole Miss Football 2027 Signing Class
- QB Keegan Croucher, Baylor School (Tenn.)
- LB Jiyez Fleming, Oxford (Ala.)
- OL Wade Ford, Oxford (Miss.)
- S Darrell Mattison, Chicago Morgan Park (Ill.)
- DL Jamarkus Pittman, Memphis Academy (Tenn.)
- DL Ben’Jarvius Shumaker, Choctaw County (Miss.)
- EDGE Keysan Taylor, Rockford Guilford (Ill.)
- OT Roman Womack, NE Mississippi CC
