Ole Miss expected to hire high-profile AAC assistant

Ole Miss is expected to hire Houston assistant Marquel Blackwell as its new running backs coach, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. The report also identifies Blackwell as a runner-up for the same position on Alabama’s staff last season, when Robert Gillespie joined the Crimson Tide.

Marquel Blackwell would bring SEC experience to Ole Miss, spending one season at Florida in 2015 as a quality control coach before later spending four seasons with Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia and Houston.

At 42-years old, the former college and NFL quarterback is one of the fast-rising assistants in college football with strong ties in Florida and Texas.

The Rebels recently hired new offensive coordinator and quarterback Charlie Weis Jr. – a former Lane Kiffin assistant at Florida Atlantic – to replace Jeff Lebby, who departed for the same position at Oklahoma. Ole Miss has been busy in the transfer portal, rebuilding its high-powered offense with former five-star running back Zach Evans.

Ole Miss adds elite running back

TCU running back transfer Zach Evans officially announced that he’s heading to Oxford, Mississippi to play for Ole Miss and head coach Lane Kiffin. Evans made the news public on Twitter.

“I would like to announce that I plan to enroll at the … University of Mississippi,” Evans wrote in his Twitter post. “I’m looking forward to a great opportunity in Oxford!”

On3’s Matt Zenitz had initially reported that Evans was trending towards committing to Ole Miss. While the running back was also considering a return to TCU, Evans has ultimately made the decision to head to the SEC and play for the Rebels.

Zach Evans is not just one of the highest-ranked players to enter the portal this offseason, but he’s also the highest-ranked Ole Miss commit of the Lane Kiffin era. Kiffin, who has picked up several four-star recruits in his two-year tenure in Oxford, has yet to nab a five-star, and Evans is his first.

Evans, a 5-foot-11, 212-pound running back from Houston, Texas, was ranked a five-star recruit out of high school by the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 running back and the No. 1 overall recruit coming out of Texas.

In two years with TCU, Evans appeared in 15 games with the Horned Frogs, racking up a total of 1,063 rushing yards on 146 attempts — good for a career average of 7.3 yards per carry — and nine rushing touchdowns. Evans is also an efficient pass catcher and needed just 18 career receptions to reach 206 receiving yards and one touchdown.