Jaxson Dart reveals why he chose Ole Miss as transfer destination

Whenever a big-name player enters their name into the NCAA Transfer Portal, especially in college football, there’s going to be many teams who express their interest in getting the player to come to a specific school. When quarterback Jaxson Dart decided to put his name into the portal and leave USC, there were plenty of programs who wanted him to choose to play for them.

After an action-packed recruiting cycle for Dart, he ultimately made the decision to transfer to Ole Miss and will be suiting up for the Rebels in 2022. Dart made the move to Oxford to join a Lane Kiffin-coached squad that won 10 games a season ago, and said that he’s excited to play in the Rebels’ offense.

“I mean, ultimately just seeing the production that they had last year,” Dart said when asked what led him to Ole Miss. “Hearing about it on the news when I was playing at SC and watching highlights when I was in the portal and meeting with the coaches. … I loved how electric the offense is. It’s super quarterback friendly and I love the excitement and everything that carries around with it.

“I love how Coach Kiffin has really turned some things around here and has brought it back to where it used to be. That was something that really excited me.”

Dart – a former On3 Consensus four-star recruit – made the move to Ole Miss with hopes of replacing standout quarterback Matt Corral as the Rebels’ primary signal-caller. He had a solid freshman season at USC in 2021, throwing for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns compared to five interceptions while playing in six games.

After a 10-win season in 2021, Ole Miss – with Dart now in the mix – is scheduled to kickoff its 2022 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 3 at home against Troy.