Jared Ivey reflects on his decision to return to Ole Miss for 2024 season

At the conclusion of the 2023 college football season, Ole Miss Rebels defensive end Jared Ivey faced what would be a difficult decision to some. Ivey had to make a decision on his future: declare for the 2024 NFL Draft or return to Ole Miss for his final season of eligibility. Fast-forward to today, and he is still a member of Lane Kiffin‘s program, preparing for the 2024 spring ball portion of their offseason.

Ivey recently had a one-on-one chat with On3’s college football expert, Andy Staples, as a guest on the Andy Staples On3 Podcast. The talented Ole Miss defensive end discussed his reasons for returning to the program rather than declaring for the NFL Draft. It should come as very little surprise to most that he brought in some of his teammates pondering the same question to help make his decision.

“We talked a lot about it. I think a lot of people put too much steak in the NIL stuff; you know, they stayed for this and that and these wrong reasons,” said Ivey. “We talked a lot about how the season ended last year and how we kind of wanted to just ride that high going into the offseason and then come back and really contend for a national championship. So that was one of the main things that brought a lot of us back.”

Ole Miss continues to enjoy success in the transfer portal with Kiffin at the helm. This past transfer portal window, the Rebels acquired more players than they lost, including bringing in former five-star recruit Walter Nolan from the Texas A&M Aggies. However, it is worth noting that Old Miss did lose star running back Quinshon Judkins to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Still, given the talent that Ole Miss has on its roster, Ivey and company are poised to build off of their successful 2023 campaign, which was topped off with an impressive 38-25 victory over the Big Ten’s Penn State Nittany Lions. And by Ivey’s estimation, the players added this offseason will only help further Ole Miss in its quest to become the top team in the SEC in 2024.

“We bring back pretty much everybody. There’s some great players that we lost in the back end. But besides that, offensively and defensively, we bring back the meat of both sides, plus all the new guys that are coming in that are already gelling right away. So, I’m very excited about the depth and what we got everywhere,” said Ivey

In order to end the top dog in arguably the most difficult college Football Conference, Ole Miss will have to go through a list of worthy challengers, including SEC power Georgia, a newcomer to the conference, Oklahoma, and a likely evening trip into Death Valley to take on the LSU Tigers.

Whether or not Ivy and the rebels are successful in their quest in 2024 remains to be seen. However, they do have a roster worthy of being crowned SEC champs and, quite possibly, college football champs at the end of the season.