Spring Football heats up

With the end of basketball season and the struggles of the baseball team, many Rebel fans are becoming engrossed in spring practice. With the new coaching regime and the Orgeron era a thing of the past, things are beginning to change, seemingly for the better.

The players are learning, smiling more in practice, and responding well to the coaches. The practices are also providing onlookers with a reason for excitement.

Perhaps the most talked about addition to the Rebels is the "Wild Rebel" package. In the formation, the staff is using Dexter McCluster in the same role Darren McFadden played when he became a Heisman finalist under current Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt while at Arkansas.

McCluster lines up in the shotgun with two Running backs by his side and running a triple option, a formation that seemed to be highly effective when ran correctly.

Another aspect of the offense giving the coaching staff reason for optimism is the play of the wide receiving corp.

Nutt has praised the group on a daily basis and feels they will be the perfect compliment to Jevan Snead and the Rebel running attack.

Markeith Summers has begun to stand out in the crowded group of receivers.

Summers, a rarely used receiver last year, made a name for himself as being the best blocking receiver on the team; however, this spring he is expanding his game and is making his way up the depth chart with big plays in scrimmage.

While Nutt has been pleased with his receivers' playmaking ability, he feels their knack for downfield blocking is really separating them from last year's performance.

"They have done an excellent job down the field and are playing with great effort," Nutt said. "They have been responsible for some of our long runs, we call it an RBI block when they spring the runner."

Nutt made a name for himself at Arkansas these past few seasons with his ability to run the ball effectively.

Whether it was with Matt Jones out of the shotgun or with the Felix Jones and McFadden combination, Nutt found a way to hurt teams on the ground.

The question fans had with Nutt was if he could muster the same kind of production with an inexperienced running back corps at Ole Miss.

After the first few practices, Nutt expressed his disappointment with the Rebel ground game as a whole, but he feels they are slowly getting to where he wants them to be.

"It's getting better," Nutt acknowledged. "If you look at the first week compared to today, a lot better. Are we there yet? No, not yet but we are getting better."

According to the Rebel head coach, the problem resides in getting all eleven players to function as a single unit in the running game.

"We are trying to get everybody at the right spot on a play. We are trying to put an emphasis on getting all 11 doing right to improve the running game. As far as kinks it will be a missed assignment, dropped ball, missed snap count, illegal procedures, just things you cannot have," the first-year Rebel coach said.

While the coaching staff has been pleased with the current Rebel running backs, they recognized that the three incoming freshmen - Brandon Bolden, Devin Thomas and Enrique Davis - would get their shot in the fall.

"We are going to give them a great look, not to take anything away from Cordera (Eason), Jason Cook, (Andy) Hartman, Derrick Davis who have had great springs," Nutt said. "But those three freshmen will get a solid look."

On the defensive side of the ball, the Rebels are shaking things up in the secondary.

The staff made the decision to switch running back Jeremy McGee and former receiver Marshay Green to the cornerback position, an area where the Rebs are very thin.

Green's transition to the defensive side of the ball is something completely new to him, having never played defensive in his football career.

However, watching him in practice does not give one that impression. During his first play Green made an impressive pass break-up in one-on-one drills on Monday.

Green followed that up on Wednesday with an interception that elicited cheers from the onlooking secondary players in his first play during one-on-ones.

Nutt is proud of the strides Green is making and said his transition to cornerback would be permanent for the remainder of spring practice. He said Green provides what the Rebels are missing in the secondary.

"What he brings to the team is he is a competitor and he brings energy and emotion and lifts the team up," Nutt said.

The Rebs know they are not near where they want to be yet, and have to continue to work hard to reach the level of expectation the coaching staff has for them.

"We are trying to get them to strain their bodies on every play. Strain their bodies to win, compete, and then have a real short memory and think only of the next play," Nutt explained.

"It's been a good spring but we have to finish strong. We don't have that many practices left so we have to continue to get better."