Ole Miss’ season-opening game against Louisville is 52 days away, which is perfect timing because it’s the name number as Will Echoles’ jersey.
The senior defensive tackle is one of three Rebels that’ll be joining coach Pete Golding at SEC Media Days next week in Tampa, Fla. Echoles has plenty of experience in front of microphones and cameras. He had five individual press conferences during last season’s playoff run.
It’s easy to see why Echoles was chosen to join Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy. It doesn’t hurt that he’s really good at playing football.
Normally its defensive ends and edge players from the defensive line that are put in the spotlight. Defensive tackles have to play a more gritty game, deep in the trenches where it’s harder to see what makes them so good (until they blow past a center and then it’s obvious).
Echoles can provide some unique insight from his spot along the defensive line and, of course, he was inside the Manning Center for last season’s Lane Kiffin coaching soap opera. There’s not shortage of insightful questions we’d love to ask if he was given a truth serum before stepping to a microphone.
Here are the five we’d love to ask the most.
Were you surprised when TJ Dottery and Princewill Umanmielen left for LSU?
There had to be some kind of relationship between Echoles and both Dottery and Umanmielen since they were all starters. So, was them leaving expected or was it a surprise?
Dottery never signed a revenue-sharing deal with Ole Miss and that lack of announcement was a warning sign. But Umanmielen did sign one and his decision to enter the transfer portal was shocking.
But was it shocking to the players in the locker room?
Did any other schools try to convince you to enter the transfer portal?
Last season, Echoles recorded 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks. He was named to every publication’s All-SEC Team (first team by AP). If he entered the portal, Echoles would’ve been one of the best available players.
Obviously, that didn’t happen and there have been no indications he was close to doing so. But we already know LSU tried to lure as many Ole Miss players to follow Kiffin. Echoles would’ve been an obvious one to at least ask.
But were there any other teams pushing for him to enter the transfer portal? If so, it’d be incredibly interesting to know which teams were doing that.
Which Ole Miss offensive lineman do you not look forward to going against 1-on-1?
A few of the questions in this series have been questions that could easily be asked next week. This is one of them, but questions like this don’t always lead to a specific, direct answer.
That’s why this question is included here. Who is he looking out for when seeing the opposing offensive linemen line up? Who’s the lineman that hits hard or has strong hands that never let go of a successful block?
How often do you know the opposing offense’s play before the snap by seeing the offensive line’s stances?
Every player in every sport strives to present a consistent look so as not to tipoff what’s about to happen. But offensive linemen are also taught to cut down gaps in certain situations or to position their feet a certain way. The reasons are various, but they’re things like making it easier to pull and get to the targeted defender.
College players watch a lot of film, too, where these indicators can be spotted. How often does Echoles notice these things? And how often does he see it in a game and know the exact play the offense is about to run?
What do you think about the Protect College Sports Act?
Everyone from former coaches to media to congressmen have voiced their opinion about the proposed legislation to “fix” college sports.
But we haven’t heard much from the players about their thoughts on the act. If they are asked about it, the answer is probably the player equivalent of coach speak.
So why not take this opportunity to get a truthful, direct answer from a player. The answer may surprise all of us.
