NEW ORLEANS – It turns out the thing outgoing Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. was most worried about prior to the 2025 season may have ultimately been the Rebels’ superpower.
Drama has followed the 2025 Ole Miss football team for no reason of its own making. Since about mid-October, the story surrounding the Rebels largely revolved around former head coach Lane Kiffin, whose will-he-or-won’t-he-stay dilemma dominated headlines the moment the Florida and LSU jobs came open. Kiffin and players were frequently asked about what the man in charge might do. All parties kept focused on the task at hand.
As the season unfolded, an Ole Miss team that lost all but four combined starters on both sides of the ball picked to finish seventh in the preseason SEC poll kept winning. Expectations for the Rebels this year were modest – it was the 2024 team that was supposed to break through to the College Football Playoff behind quarterback Jaxson Dart and one of the best defenses in program history. But 1-0 turned into 2-0 and eventually into 6-0. A heartbreaking loss at Georgia never got in the Rebels’ way; 6-1 turned into 7-1 and eventually into 11-1. Kiffin left for LSU just days after the regular-season finale and, as always, the Rebels didn’t flinch. Pete Golding assumed head coaching duties and led the team to its first ever CFP win, a 41-10 win over Tulane.
Weis – who is currently managing his own balancing act, as he is following Kiffin to LSU but staying with the Rebels through their playoff run – saw a team with a steady pulse as early as the spring.
“Even from the beginning, when we had this group in spring practice, we were kind of like, ‘You know what? There’s not really any dominant, dominant personalities this year compared to in years past, we’d had some very – in a good way, too – loud voices that were leaders and those sorts of things.’ This group we’re like, ‘Is this a problem? Like, they’re so non-emotional,’” Weis said. “ … We were almost worried at the beginning of the year, is this a issue? And then as the year progressed we’re like, ‘It’s probably the best thing possible.’”
“ … Normally you have at least like one or two guys that are just so demonstrative. … But I’ve never had a group like this.”
The Rebels (12-1) have persevered through countless ups and downs this season. They have taken everything in stride and are one of the final eight teams remaining with a chance to win the national championship. The Daily Journal spoke with Weis and a handful of players at Sugar Bowl Media Day on Tuesday to find out, among other things, what makes this team special, where its mental toughness comes from and how it should be remembered whenever the season ends.
Interviews have been edited for brevity
What makes this team special? When did you realize this team was different?
Senior tackle Diego Pounds: “We had a summer workout, and somebody messed up. And then coach made us restart the whole thing. And then right then and there, everybody just got on that line, we huddled up, we got on that line and nobody said a word. We all just did it. And I was like, ‘OK, this team … wants to win. Nobody was talking back, none of that. So, that’s how I knew.”
Weis: “We’ll have games where we punt three straight times, and the sideline feels from, whatever all the coaches down there say, and I’ll ask them, exactly the same. They just want the adjustments, make the corrections and let’s go. They’re just so business focused, and that’s made it really, really cool.”
Sophomore center Brycen Sanders: “We had that hunger. We’ve been flying under the radar all year. … No one really thought we would be here at the end of the season, even in the middle of the season, after we lost to Georgia, they’re like, ‘Oh, they’re just going to lose their big games and not make the playoffs. They’re just going to go to another decent bowl game.’ So, I think that the work ethic and the hunger to prove everyone wrong is what made this team different. … We don’t really have a lot of big-name stars at the beginning of the season, so everyone just wanted to prove a name for themselves and for this university.”
Sophomore running back Kewan Lacy: “The mindset of certain players, like TJ Dottery, Trinidad, a lot of them, it’s just the mindset of the team. They feed the team great energy, and I feel like that … changes the dynamic of the team.”
Pounds: “I can confidently say everybody wants it. … Some people just like what football gives you. But I feel like a lot of people on this team loves, loves the game of football. Like truly loves it.”
Sophomore receiver Deuce Alexander: “Towards the end of spring ball … That’s when I really started noticing it. … Just the competitive edge with everybody, it just felt different. … Even the coaching staff, they love to compete with each other, too. Just the whole team, I just felt it at the end of spring.”
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