Since coming to Ole Miss "completely blind" Jared Ivey has found himself

The week Jared Ivey made the decision to jump into the transfer portal was one of uncertainty but the defensive end could not be happier ending up at Ole Miss.

At the beginning of the week Ivey was on Georgia Tech’s roster but by the end of it he had entered the portal and already getting calls from Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin.

The time between those two days was a surprise to Ivey in the events that led up to him wanting to leave Atlanta for something new.

“It was a lot of things,” Ivey said. “It was a long time coming. I’ll just say (that). There were a lot of things that were kind of put into it, but that weekend was a hectic weekend. I could not have told you Monday I was going into the portal Friday. But I had been talking to my family and praying on it, and it was the right decision to make.”

When a prospective player makes that official visit the hope of the coach and the program is said player will enjoy every minute of their time on campus and visiting.

Ivey was a stranger coming to a strange land when visiting Oxford, but his time with Kiffin, defensive line coach Randall Joyner and co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge paid off.

The City of Oxford did its part as well, winning Ivey over and landing the Rebels another key addition to the defensive line.

“I was coming in completely blind. I didn’t know anybody,” Ivey said. “I didn’t know any coaches or players or anything. I came on that visit that weekend and I kind of fell in love with the city and fell in love with the program.

“I’m an Xs and Os guy. They laid the defense out in front of me, showed me how they’d use me and showed me the skills of the other guys and what it would look like as a whole. I just really liked it and I really liked how, I can’t really get into it but I just really liked the scheme, how they’d use me.”

Ivey is just another piece to a defensive line that has worked on depth and is the most stocked that position room has been in a long time.

Along with J.J. Pegues and Isaiah Iton, Ivey joins returners Cedric Johnson, K.D. Hill and Tavious Robinson in the trenches.

For a defense that many players have described as faster and more aggressive this spring, having depth and players in the wings that can come in and, in theory, not have a drop-off in production, while the others guys get a breather is invaluable.

“It’s going to be a lot of fresh guys all game long just going at it,” Ivey said. “It’s going to be different. It’s going to be great. … Here, it’s like I feel like when I come off the field it’s going to be good because I trust (my replacement). I know he knows everything. I know he’s a competitor. I know he’s a dog. I have full faith and trust everybody in the room.”

On Sept. 17 there will be a slight bittersweet moment for Ivey when the Rebels travel back to Atlanta and play the Yellowjackets.

That week three game has been circled on Ivey’s calendar for a while as the calendar of his former teammates.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Ivey said of playing his former team. “I can’t wait. The whole family is going to be there, all the friends and family and seeing the old guys. I still keep in contact. They know I’m on a schedule and I know they’re on a schedule but we’re talking and there’s a little bit of jawing, but it’s going to be fun.”