Pete Golding and the Grove Collective retain yet another key player for next season.
Because we’re all transfer portal junkies, you’re aware Pete Golding, staff, and the Grove Collective were on a heater of heaters throughout Sunday and Monday.
After a flood of commitments over the last 48 hours, things culminated late Monday night with the news Kewan Lacy reached an NIL agreement with Ole Miss for the 2026 season.
To understate the significance of this as much as possible, Lacy’s return is somewhat of a big deal on three fronts. First, and most importantly, Ole Miss returns a elite running back that rarely has negative runs and generates a healthy amount of his yards after contact. Not many backs have his skillset.
Second, Ole Miss now doesn’t have to figure out how to replace his production. Pre-Fiesta Bowl, he’s just shy of 300 carries and turned those into 1,464 yards and 23 touchdowns, while catching 28 passes for 173 yards, making him a great safety valve that also avoids negative plays in the passing game.
He likely won’t hit those numbers next season, but he’s a known quantity, and Ole Miss won’t have to hope unknowns give them meaningful production in 2026. Granted, it would be nice to find a complimentary back to reduce his workload and keep him healthy and fresh, but WE AIN’T HERE TO PLAY BEING CHOOSY.
And finally, Ole Miss doesn’t have to deal with facing Lacy (assuming he went to a certain SEC school on the schedule next year) and gets to enjoy a meltdown from the adult baby who tried to and still wants to burn everything down in Oxford because he didn’t get his way.
Speaking of, let’s a get a count of said adult baby’s career playoff wins after coaching a team to an 11-1 record:
Is 0 more than 2? Who’s to say? However, it’s a great question he can ask coeds in the DMs.
But enough about sadness and isolation, Lacy potentially joins Trinidad Chambliss, who is waiting on an NCAA waiver to give him a final year of eligibility, in the backfield. That level of returning production would be weapons-grade IDEAL for Ole Miss.
And speaking of returning production, almost every major contributor from 2025 with eligibility remaining for 2026 will be back. There will certainly be some degree of attrition down the depth chart, but there won’t be a hemorrhaging of starters or potential starters, as once feared.
In addition to the successful retention, which Pete Golding stressed was the most important part of roster management for 2026, Ole Miss has added the following:
- Sharif Denson – DB, Florida
- Jonathan Maldonado – EDGE, Nevada
- Keaton Thomas – LB, Baylor
- Jay Crawford – CB, Auburn
- Chris Jones – LB, Southern Mississippi
- Jehiem Oatis – DT, Colorado
- Michai Boireau – DT, Florida
Obviously, those are all defensive players, but with Chambliss (potentially) and Lacy back, we can assume offensive additions will be on the way in the next week or so. The primary areas of need being wide receiver and offensive tackle, but if Chambliss is denied his waiver, then Ole Miss will need to sign at least two quarterbacks.
While all this is important to keeping the machine operating, let us not forget that, in two days, we’re in Phoenix (far-ass-away-from-town Glendale) one win away from playing for a national title.
LFG, FRIENDS.
Category: General Sports
