Three Things We Want to Learn From Ole Miss at SEC Media Days

Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels will take the podium Wednesday afternoon to address the media in Tampa (Fla.) on the second-to-last day of SEC Media Days.

Joining Golding in the Sunshine State for his appearance at the conference event will be a trio of Ole Miss’ biggest stars in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy and defensive tackle Will Echoles.

For the Rebels, it was an eventful offseason that attached no shortage of college football headlines. The coaching transition, transfer portal haul, tampering allegations, Chambliss hearing, Vanity Fair article and buyout obligations were among the many talking points surrounding Ole Miss this offseason.

Before Ole Miss’ appearance on the big stage in Tampa, here are three things we want to learn from Wednesday:

Has Ole Miss heard from the NCAA regarding tampering allegations?

Ole Miss linebacker Luke Ferrelli during spring practices | Ole Miss Athletics

Back in January, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney pulled no punches and detailed everything about Ole Miss’ pursuit of transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli from his perspective.

"Obviously there's two sides to every story, right?" Golding said when asked about the situation nearly three months after Swinney’s press conference addressing the matter. "So I'm not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grandstand and all of that. That's why there is enforcement. That's why we have our compliance office. They do all that."

“The bottom line with the recruitment of Luke, he came here on an official visit prior to the Fiesta Bowl. "I told him, 'I want you to be our green-dot mike, but right now we've got a green-dot mike. And that spot's not going to be available until we have one available. So it's a kid that wanted to be here that we wanted to be here. At the end of it, it came open and he's here and we're happy to have him.”

Swinney has since walked back his comments a bit, but the latest reports have still indicated it’s an ongoing investigation. Golding may reveal a final verdict from the NCAA, or he may confirm that Ole Miss is still awaiting word on the matter. Either way, there will be questions about the situation for Golding to face.

Any progress or further conversations with LSU about buyout?

Earlier this month, Ole Miss Athletics director Keith Carter revealed that Ole Miss still had not received its buyout money for the revenue sharing agreements signed, and broken, by Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper. Carter also shared with the Clarion-Ledger that Ole Miss could explore its legal options on the matter in order to collect the ~$1,000,000 contractually owed.

Typically, the institution gaining the players’ services will pay the necessary buyout fee. In this case, LSU likely told Umanmielen and Harper that it would handle that part of the transfer process.

Of course, both sides made arguments as to why pursuing legal options would or wouldn't be the right thing to do. By the time Golding takes the stage it will have been almost two weeks since Carter’s comments made waves across college football. Maybe Ole Miss has already received the money since Carter’s comments. Golding could provide more clarity on that before LSU takes the stage the following day.

Is Ole Miss going to be at full strength during fall camp?

During spring practices, Ole Miss’ head coach was asked about his team’s overall health. At that point, Golding expressed little to no concern about the players who were banged up and sat out for on-field work at the time.

He reiterated that the injuries surrounding the team during spring weren’t believed to be long term, and that none necessarily came out of the blue.

With that being almost three months ago come Wednesday, Golding should have a better idea of what the health of his team is going to look like by the start of fall camp in about two weeks.

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