OXFORD – There wasn’t really a scenario where Ole Miss senior offensive tackle Diego Pounds would have seen himself enjoying meals with his wide receiver brethren. But it just goes to show how strong the chemistry of this particular team is.
The Rebels (11-1) lost 18 starters from last year’s team, which entered the season with sky-high expectations and dreams of the program’s first College Football Playoff. Ole Miss came up just short of the CFP and, with few starters returning, preseason expectations for 2025 were modest – a predicted seventh-place SEC finish and the No. 21 team in the AP’s preseason poll.
Consider those expectations defied.
Sixth-seeded Ole Miss hosts 11th-seeded Tulane (11-2) in the first round of the CFP Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TNT and HBO Max. It will mark the first game for head coach Pete Golding, who was elevated from defensive coordinator on Nov. 30 following Lane Kiffin’s departure to LSU. Ole Miss has 11 regular-season wins for the first time in program history.
The Rebels’ 2025 success was forged in the offseason, according to Pounds. The blood, sweat and tears with players has a way of building up bonds. Those bonds have led Pounds to eat meals with teammates he normally wouldn’t have imagined.
“What business do I have hanging out with receivers?” Pounds said with a laugh. “But it just goes to show … how everybody hangs out.”
The close relationships within Ole Miss’ locker room are a major reason why Pounds believes the Rebels have a legitimate chance to win the national championship. Last year’s team, Pounds explained, had a lot of older players – including ones brought in for just one season. This year, Ole Miss brought in younger players with multiple years of eligibility remaining and infused its homegrown young talent. That has made it easier to gel, he said.
“I just feel like everybody’s so close,” Pounds said. “ … Like, you see the DBs hanging out with O-linemen … everybody hangs out, everybody is so close and everybody’s actually playing for each other. And that’s what I feel like you need. When you’re playing for each other, you don’t want to let that next man down. So, I just feel like it makes you go a little bit harder.”
Report: Ole Miss to hire LSU interim Frank Wilson
Ole Miss is set to hire LSU running backs coach and current interim head coach Frank Wilson, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. Wilson, who worked at Ole Miss from 2005-07, has twice been named the national recruiter of the year. While serving as head coach at UTSA, Wilson hired Rebels head coach Pete Golding as his defensive coordinator.
Wilson has been LSU’s interim since the firing of Brian Kelly on Oct. 26. Former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was hired to be the Tigers’ permanent coach on Nov. 30.
Golding was asked about Wilson’s reported hiring during his press conference Wednesday.
“Once we can get through this game and all those things, then we’ll address that ’26 staff when we need to,” Golding said. “But right now the focus is on the players.”
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