William Echoles is helping 'flip the script' when it comes to Ole Miss landing top Mississippi players
Ole Miss has the tagline of ‘The Flagship’ university in Mississippi but football head coach Lane Kiffin has made it a true statement when it comes to in-state recruiting over the last few years.
Defensive lineman William Echoles has played a big role in that, too, and this Fall he will get a chance to be a big contributor on the field with a tall order in front of him. Echoles is one of a handful that is charged with trying to fill the void left by four NFL-caliber players in Jared Ivey, Walter Nolen, JJ Pegues and Princely Umanmielen.
The former Houston High School standout is not sugar-coating the situation, either.
“We’re real young and inexperienced,” Echoles said after practice on Tuesday. “Last year we had a lot of experienced guys that had been in college for a bunch of years. We just got to work hard and keep pushing. Keep stacking days.”
Echoles and the rest of the younger players along the defensive line have been stacking those days as Spring practices reach the midway point, wrapping up on April 19.
Last season was one where Echoles sat under the learning tree, soaking up as much information as he could. He also managed to get into eight games, recording nine tackles — two for a loss — and half a sack.
There was one goal he had when playing behind those four guys.
“Just learn how to be a pro,” Echoles said. “Learn how to practice. When I signed I knew what I was coming into. So, really, I just wanted to soak in everything and gain all the knowledge that I could.”
More importantly Echoles is part of a recent surge in recruiting Ole Miss has enjoyed in Mississippi.
He was part of a trio of in-state defensive players that signed last year, including Lake Cormorant’s Kam Franklin and Jeffery Rush out of Pascagoula. Echoles was the top player out of Mississippi and one of three straight top in-state players to sign with Kiffin and Ole Miss.
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Suntarine Perkins the year prior out of Raleigh and then Choctaw County’s Caleb Cunningham this signing cycle.
For Echoles, who group an Ole Miss fan but went to more Mississippi State games — his first Ole Miss game in Oxford occurred after he started getting recruiting — as Houston is more of a Bulldog hotbed than Rebel stronghold.
Either way he is more than happy to be doing his part in turning the tide of in-state talent choosing Oxford over Starkville.
“There’s kind of a tradition for the number one player in the state to come to Ole Miss,” Echoles said. “It’s kind of like flip the script because back in the day most of them went to State. So now I’m kind of flipping the narrative to Ole Miss to be the place to be in Mississippi.”
