The annual microphone marathon better known as SEC Media Days is two weeks away.
Right now, all we know is what days schools are assigned to. Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding will take his first turn at media days on Wednesday, July 22. Sadly, it’s not the same day as LSU which would’ve been a lot of fun, but Golding has a personality that can be entertaining on its own.
But he won’t be the only Rebel making the trek from Oxford to Tampa, Fla. Three players will be joining him, but they haven’t been announced yet. That’ll come soon enough, but since it’s July and the slowest time of the year, let’s have do some speculating about which three Ole Miss players will be making appearances at SEC Media Days.
Let’s start with the candidates and there are a couple very obvious ones.
The Obvious Candidates
Trinidad Chambliss, QB
Starting quarterback, face of the team, went from Division II to SEC Newcomer of the Year, and won a preliminary injunction against the NCAA to have eligibility this season are all reasons that make Chambliss an attractive choice.
Frankly, it’s the easy and obvious choice. He can talk about ex-head coach Lane Kiffin, carrying playoff expectations, what Golding is like as a head coach and so many more things. He’s probably the quarterback most media want to talk to not named Manning.
Kewan Lacy, RB
Lacy may be the biggest offensive star on the roster, even more so than Chambliss. After the season he had, landing on the cover of EA CFB 27 and being named a preseason All-American, it would be hard to leave him home.
Lacy also is good in front of a camera. He has bright smile, likes to laugh and doesn’t give boring, cookie cutter-like answers.
Suntarine Perkins, LB
He has the Mississippi angle, the veteran angle, the defensive-star angle and the personality/energy factor. He feels like someone who would bring more juice than a typical polished Media Days answer machine. Also, if Pete Golding wants the defense to define his first team, Perkins is an easy player to put in front of cameras.
We also haven’t heard from him since last postseason. He could talk about what the offseason was like beyond the Kiffin circus. What was it like losing two key defensive starters, TJ Dottery and Princewill Umanmielen, to LSU? How are the new transfers adapting to Ole Miss? He’d be a fun choice.
Will Echoles, DL
Echoles gives Golding a defensive representative, fits the “built in the trenches” theme, and has the national recognition after showing up high on PFF’s preseason list. He is also an in-state player, which helps.
The Not-So-Obvious Candidates
Lucas Carneiro, K
This would be the most interesting curveball. Kickers almost never get SEC Media Days love, but Carneiro has the Georgia CFP kick, a cult-hero quality and a totally different perspective than the usual QB/RB/LB setup.
Jeheim Oatis, DL
Here’s another curveball pick that’d likely be more interesting to reporters than fans. Oatis has spent time at Alabama, Colorado and now Ole Miss. He could about the similarities and differences between the three. He could also talk about the different head coaches he’s had in college. That list includes Nick Saban and Deion Sanders. It’d be interesting to hear him compare those two to Golding.
Patrick Kutas, OL
Offensive linemen don’t get to make too many appearances at SEC Media Days, but it’s not unheard of. Kutas is one of the returning starters on the offensive line and he could talk about the open starting jobs at both left and right tackle. He could talk about how Chambliss and other skill players have grown since last season. He could talk about Kiffin and Golding, or even the difference between offensive coordinators Charlie Weis Jr. (now at LSU) and John David Baker (now at Ole Miss).
Brycen Sanders, OL
Pretty much all the same reasons as Kutas, but from the perspective of the center.
Any Wide Receiver
Something about the wide receiver position attracts personalities who are a lot of fun in front of the camera. Whether its fun like Deion Sanders or Chad Ochocinco (formerly Johnson) or Terrell Owens to outlandish crazy behavior like Antonio Brown, wide receivers have fun personalities. So, sending one of Duece Alexander, Caleb Cunningham, Johntay Cook II, Darrell Gill Jr. or Horation Fields could lead to some fun moments.
Kam Franklin, DE
Franklin wouldn’t be a curveball pick and would align with the trenches-first mentality Ole Miss is working to establish. Franklin could talk about a lot of the same things that others could talk about, though. Kiffin. Golding as head coach. Randall Joyner and his recruiting success. The new defensive linemen and pass rushers. But Franklin doesn’t get much attention. He’s a great player and deserves some attention. This would achieve that.
The Not-In-A-Million-Years Candidates
Carius Curne, OL
Curne might have legal reasons not stand in front of reporters and get asked every question under the sun. He was arrested in Arkansas in April on six different charges and ended up pleading no-contest to three (reckless driving, fleeing on foot and speeding in excess of 15 mph over the speed limit). The other three (improper passing [driving on the shoulder], possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance) were dropped.
We definitely won’t see Curne at SEC Media Days, but his appearance would draw a lot of interesting (and tough) questions.
Luke Ferrelli, LB
There aren’t any legal reasons for Ferrelli not to travel to Tampa, but there is an ongoing NCAA investigation about potential tampering by Ole Miss. You may recall, Ferrelli was at Clemson for a week after transferring there from Cal. But he ended up getting back into the portal and transferring to Ole Miss. That led to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney publicly accusing Golding and other Ole Miss officials of tampering. An NCAA investigation was reportedly launched.
Golding will get asked about Ferrelli and tampering. But it would be interesting to hear directly from Ferrelli about his decision to transfer to Ole Miss and how that all played out.
The Final Choices
Most likely, the three Ole Miss players will be Chambliss, Lacy and Perkins. It’s not exactly the fun and exciting choices, but considering the players usually attending SEC Media Days, those three fit the bill perfectly.
Any combination of three players listed above, though, would bring their own unique traits and personalities that’d make their trips fun.
But when the announcements are made, don’t be surprised to see Chambliss, Lacy and Perkins as the three player representatives.
