Quarterback recruit: Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze says he’s found offensive coordinator

Published 6:35 pm Saturday, December 10, 2016

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — If one of Mississippi’s top prospects is correct, Ole Miss could be filling one of their top coaching staff vacancies within the next several days.

Before he competed in the 30th annual Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game on Saturday, St. Stanislaus quarterback Myles Brennan gave some insight into the timetable of the Rebels choosing their new offensive coordinator.

“I talked to (Ole Miss head coach Hugh) Freeze, and he said that they have their offensive coordinator and they’ll announce it next week,” Brennan said.

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This is all happening on the heels of Freeze announcing the firing of co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dan Werner on Thursday. Werner served under Freeze during all five seasons of his tenure at Ole Miss and it was his second stint with the Rebels, having served as coordinator from 2006-07.

Names began to come out of the rumor mill almost immediately as candidates to take over the open spot in Oxford. The prime candidate was thought to be Houston offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, but that was nixed when Houston promoted him to head coach, replacing Tom Herman, who left for the same job at the University of Texas. Over the weekend, another candidate moved up the list out of the Lone Star state as Sam Houston State offensive coordinator Phil Longo became a prime candidate.

While Brennan didn’t give a name, multiple media reports surfaced Friday that Longo was the leading candidate.

“(Freeze) said I should be excited when I hear it,” Brennan said. “I’m just looking forward to taking some visits.”

Brennan, an LSU commit who reopened his recruitment last month when LSU head coach Ed Orgeron mentioned the idea of wanting a dual quarterback in his system, is planning to visit Ole Miss in January.

There are other key offensive prospects who surely will be interested in seeing who will take over the offense when Freeze does decide to make the announcement. Clinton five-star running back Cam Akers, who has Ole Miss as one of his top schools, will be keeping a close watch as well.

“I’m just going to see what happens,” Akers said.