REPORT: Ole Miss Rebels' John David Baker to Become New Offensive Coordinator With East Carolina Pirates
OXFORD -- Ole Miss Rebels co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach John David Baker has agreed to become the new offensive coordinator with the East Carolina Pirates, 247Sports reported on Friday.
Baker just finished his third season on staff at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin, and he has served as co-OC for the past two seasons. He was named passing game coordinator when he first arrived in 2021.
He was a part of some of the strongest offenses in college football during his time in Oxford, including this season where Ole Miss ranked No. 16 nationally in total offense with 455.4 YPG. In his first season in 2021, the Rebels led the SEC in total offense (492.5 YPG) with quarterback Matt Corral at the helm.
East Carolina (left) and Ole Miss helmets.
USA Today Sports
According to the initial report, Baker was selected over other finalists Chad Morris (former Arkansas head coach and current offensive analyst at Clemson) and Keenan Bailey (tight ends coach at Ohio State).
Baker has had multiple stops in his career prior to arriving at Ole Miss. He began his career as a graduate assistant at Abilene Christian before moving to a quality control role at North Texas. He then moved into the same role with the USC Trojans before becoming their tight ends coach in the COVID-impacted 2020 season.
He appears to have his work cut out for him at East Carolina where the Pirates finished the season with the No. 127 total offense in the country and a 2-10 final record.
The Rebels, sans Baker, are awaiting their bowl game destination after their second 10-2 season in the last three years. That destination will be announced on Sunday following the conclusion of conference championship games on Saturday.
