Walter Nolen is sticking with Ole Miss through the Gator Bowl for one simple reason
Nobody would have flinched if Walter Nolen decided to wrap up his Ole Miss career after the Egg Bowl, opt out of the Gator Bowl and begin preparation for the NFL Draft.
But it was Nolen who never flinched in his desire to see his final college season out to the very end. The defensive tackle is going through another month’s worth of practices and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville on January 2 for one very simple reason.
A reason most of us forget to consider in this transfer portal, NIL era of players opting out of bowl games at a rapid pace.
“Really it’s just the fact that I ain’t ever played in a bowl game,” Nolen said matter of factly on Friday. “I just felt like this would be a fun experience, especially with the group of guys that we got. I just want to enjoy one last ride with my guys.”
That was it.
Nolen has never had that postseason experience with a team in this three-year college career. Transferring in from Texas A&M last December, he missed out on the Texas Bowl when the Aggies played Oklahoma State in Houston.
The season before the Aggies finished 5-7 and did not go to a bowl game in Nolen’s first season.
So, No. 14 Ole Miss (9-3) presented Nolen that opportunity, though it is not the postseason experience he was recruited for out of the portal. Nonetheless one last ride is what Nolen wants before that NFL journey begins.
“Obviously we wanted the bigger game, but I feel like any time you get a chance to play in a bowl game or any game going into January it’s special,” Nolen added. “There’s not a lot of teams still playing.”
Nolen is a sure-thing early round pick for April’s NFL Draft and potentially the next Ole Miss player to go in the first round.
In ESPN’s latest mock draft, Nolen is projected to go to the San Francisco 49ers as the 15th overall pick.
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Mel Kiper, Jr. has Nolen as his third best prospect at the defensive tackle position. Michigan’s Mason Graham and Oregon’s Derrick Harmon the only two slotted above him by Kiper.
Only one season in defensive coordinator Pete Golding’s system and learning from Ole Miss defensive line coach Randall Joyner for Nolen. But these last few months have paid dividends in evolving his skillset.
“Coach Pete and coach Joyner did a good job of just bringing me in kind of being that guiding shoulder,” Nolen said. “I guess, from my past, I got in a lot of trouble not necessarily with the game, just the small things. They just helped me tune them up and make me a better player going into my future.”
Nolen was only here for a season and less than a full calendar year, but he is part of the “rise” that Ole Miss is currently on.
He is a proof of concept that Lane Kiffin‘s transfer portal efforts work and can make the Rebels a College Football Playoff contender with longevity and not a flash in the pan.
“You just got come see it. People on the outside might talk down to Ole Miss,” Nolen said. “Once you get here and see everybody in the building and see the way the team work, Ole Miss is one of the program’s that’s on the rise and will be for a minute.”
