Rebel Rex

Today's guest is a guy out of Clarksdale, Mississippi who was a Parade All-American and attended Ole Miss 1998-2001 where he was All-SEC, All-American and went on to be a third round draft pick in the NFL. Today on the show is Terrence Metcalf who went on to have a great career with the Chicago Bears from 2002 to 2008. Coming out of high school, Terrence could've attended a number of places and he was trying to make a decision between Ole Miss and Alabama. The Rebel program was run by Tuberville and his assistants were great. The Alabama program went after all the top guys in the state of Mississippi including Ramiro Miller, Deuce McAllister, and Ken Lucas and a lot of those top Mississippi guys did end up staying in-state and attended Ole Miss. The coaches at Ole Miss were telling them that they were changing things around and they would be building new facilities and one key thing they told the players was that they could go out of state and do something great for another university but when you retire and come home, can you make a living and retire based on your performance at Alabama or Tennessee? That was something that stuck with Terrence and he has seen it first-hand in Oxford through the support everyone has given him in every business venture he's taken on. Listen in to hear about Terrence's Rebel memories and how it's shaped what he's doing now.

Today's guest is one of only a handful of Rebels to come out of the state of Ohio, Doug Zeigler. Playing tight end 1999-2002, he was a great target for Eli but unfortunately had some bad luck when it came to injuries. Doug was co-captain of the team toward the end of his time with Rebels and is one of no more than 10 players out of Ohio that I could find in the past 40 years. Doug was being recruited by lots of Big Ten and MAC schools and one thing he was looking for was a chance to play pretty early. Ole Miss was rebuilding in Tuberville's third year when he went to visit and Ole Miss mentioned that tight end could be his spot since he was a quarterback in high school. Doug had always had a thing for the South and getting away from Ohio so when Ole Miss and Tennessee were a couple of his top options to look at attending, he was pleased. Doug went on a visit to Ole Miss and fell in love. Cory Peterson and Matt Koon were his hosts and showed him around and showed him a good time. That hospitality paired with the small two mentality and his being from a small town in Ohio pretty much made up his mind. Doug hadn't been back for a football game in a few years before he went back this past weekend for the A&M game. Listen in for my full interview with Doug Zeigler, including his perspective on our talented freshmen.

Today's guest is Evan Swindall, the center for the Rebels this year as a fifth year senior. He's on the Remington Trophy pre-season watch list and he's certainly been an asset to this team during his time at Ole Miss. As his time at Ole Miss is winding down, Evan hates that his time there is almost up and says that its just flown by. He's doing what he can now with what little time he has left on the team. Evan is one of a few players on the team who have already graduated and are working on graduate degrees. Evan is from Alabama and graduated high school in Georgia, but the reason he chose Ole Miss was first of all his love for the coaches there including Coach Nutt who recruited him. He enjoyed the campus and loved everybody on it. Evan mentions that he also loves the guys on the team and the team chemistry they possess. His main reason for choosing to play football at Ole Miss, however, was to play SEC football and their having the degree he wanted to pursue as well. Listen in for Evan's thoughts on the offensive plan and their preparation for this weekend's game against LSU.

Today's guest is a guy who was a tight end although at times I think he was like an extra offensive lineman out there with his ability to block. He started his time at Ole Miss in 2002 and was redshirted that year and played 2003-2006. He came out of Alabama as one of the best tight ends in the entire country, certainly in the state of Alabama that year. I'd like to welcome Lawrence Lilly! As a high rated recruit, Lawrence committed to Auburn fairly early in October and when he started going on visits, Ole Miss just felt like home. Everything was tight knit concerning the players and coaches and it just felt right. He was kind of nervous about attending Auburn coming from such a small town and Oxford reminded him of home. When Lawrence looks back at his five years at Ole Miss, he remembers the fans more than anything. Oxford would go from being just a small college town to having an extra 60,000 fans there every Saturday! One catch that stands out for him was against Mississippi State in the rain his redshirt freshman year when he made number two play of the week on ESPN. Listen in to hear about what Lawrence is doing now.

Today's guest is a wide receiver who finished up at Ole Miss back in 2004 as second on the all-time list for receptions. Whenever the ball was thrown his way, you knew he was going to catch that ball. Today's guest is Bill Flowers. When Bill looks back at his time at Ole Miss, one thing that sticks out the most is going down to Auburn his junior year and being able to play against some of his high school buddies. They were able to beat Auburn at Auburn and it was a great game. He also remembers going down to Florida and beating them there and then of course the camaraderie. He enjoyed having relationships with his teammates who were just really good dudes. He thinks when people say they miss college football, its half the game and half the locker room relationships. Listen in to hear the inspiring story about how Bill chose Ole Miss and what he's doing now.

While he came to Ole Miss regarded as one of the top high school quarterbacks in the country, our guest today ended up at tight end who did whatever it took to help the team. Today's guest is none other than Robert Lane. Robert started his time at Ole Miss in 2003 and was redshirted that year before playing his last season in 2007. Back when he was recruited, Robert remembered his house being a madhouse all year long between football and baseball. The recruiting websites were just getting started and would call his house every night! Being from Louisiana, Robert thought of LSU from the beginning and actually committed to them early. Because there was a chance of Robert getting drafted for baseball, Nick Saban decided to continue to recruit another quarterback as well. Robert decided to go on a visit to Ole Miss about two weeks before signing day and as soon as he drove on campus, he knew it was where he belonged. He spent the weekend and ended up loving it and went back and signed with them on signing day. Robert still wishes he had been able to play under Coach Cutcliffe the whole time but knows thats just how things go. He hates that they didn't have much success in his sophomore, junior, and senior years but he's happy about the way the program is going now. He still remembers his first touchdown pass he threw in college against Mississippi State under Coach Cutcliffe's program. Listen in to hear more about Robert's career and his thoughts on this year's team.

Today's guest is Nate Wayne who finished up his linebacker career at Ole Miss in 1997 and is a past recipient of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award. During his NFL career with the Broncos, Packers and Eagles he earned the nickname, "Mr. Monday Night." Nate actually wasn't highly recruited in football; he was mostly recruited for basketball. His attending Ole Miss actually has a lot to do with his high school coach, James Thomas. Coach Thomas convinced Ole Miss that if they recruited Nate that they wouldn't regret it. When Nate left Ole Miss, he had a very successful pro career and played for the Denver Broncos, the Green Bay Packers, and the Philadelphia Eagles. He was able to play in two Super Bowls, one with Denver and one with Philadelphia. Listen in for this great conversation with Rebel Legend Nate Wayne.

Today's guest is Justin Bell, current offensive guard for the Rebels. Justin is a sophomore out of Jackson Callaway originally who was redshirted his freshman year. Instead of talking about the game against Auburn this past weekend, I wanted to talk with Justin about the game this coming weekend against Texas A&M. We're five games into the season at this point and Justin tells me that the strengths of the Rebs so far include them playing for each other. They're a close group of young men and there's a brotherly feel. The things they need to work on are really to get better at everything but focus on pass-blocking. Justin doesn't feel like they fall apart in the area but they should still work on it. After being on the road so much, Justin says it feels great to be able to be at home this weekend and play in front of Rebel Nation. Listen in for his expectations for the upcoming A&M game.

Today's guest is David Morris who was a quarterback at Ole Miss 1998-2002. David started out as a walk-on and earned a scholarship after his freshman season. After that year, Eli Manning came along so David ended up being the backup quarterback to Eli. David was at Ole Miss during the Tuberville-Cutcliffe coaching change and remembers there definitely being a transition during bowl practice when Cutcliffe came in. David actually was recruited by a lot of schools and had scholarship offers but chose to walk on at Ole Miss because he wanted to go to an SEC school. He is still glad that he did what he did because he enjoyed his time at Ole Miss. He knew being a walk-on would be a challenge and was expecting an uphill battle but doesn't dwell on any of that. Instead, he's thankful for the experiences he had. Ultimately, he says, its about the relationships, friendships, and experiences on and off the field. Be sure to listen in to hear about the fun project David's working on now.

Today's guest is the quarterback that came along and from 1978 to 1981 establish new passing records while at Ole Miss which lasted for twenty years until a certain guy named Eli name along. It's a pleasure to have John Fourcade as my guest today. It was actually John's high school recruiting that got me so wrapped up in the process of recruiting and made it something I've followed ever since. He and another quarterback, Tommy Wilcox, both lived in New Orleans where I was at the time as a recent Ole Miss grad and while Tommy ended up at Alabama, John became a Rebel. John mentioned that he probably would have gone to Alabama had it not been for someone basically telling him he wouldn't get to play until he was a junior. After that, Ole Miss came on board and told him he could play as a freshman after he told them that he wasn't interested if he couldn't play soon. John remembers Oxford as being such a beautiful campus where he met so many good people. He remembers that while he was at Ole Miss that they had a great team, it just never lived up to exactly what he wanted because they never quite delivered on the potential they had. Since his time at Ole Miss, John has kept football in his life whether through playing or coaching, and now more on a media side. Listen in to hear about what John is doing these days.

Today's guest is another wide receiver - Markeith Summers, who came to Ole Miss out of Olive Branch and was a four year letterman playing 2007-2010. Markeith was on the receiving end of ten touchdowns during his junior and senior seasons while averaging 21 yards per catch. During his recruitment, Markeith says it was his visit to Oxford that really clenched Ole Miss as the school for him. After his visit and experiencing the fans and atmosphere of campus, he actually cancelled the other visits he had lined up with other schools. Makeith's friend Adam Walker made the trip with him and having someone else there with him that he already knew made it that much easier. Coach Hugh Freeze was actually recruiting at that point and Markeith loved his mentality and that he was a good Christian man. The team made him feel like a part of the time before he even got there when he would make the 45 minute drive to I ask Markeith to highlight his time and experiences at Oxford, and he's quick to mention that he met his fiancée who is the mother of his children while he was there. The main thing that stands out to him, however, is the grind - the hard work and dedication to Ole Miss football. He also says that the fans were amazing and they still continue to reach out to him and ask him how he's doing. The fans don't forget about you or talk bad about you as a player once you're gone. Markeith says the games themselves are a blur but he does remember a few plays here and there and playing against certain teams. Listen in to hear an update on all Markeith is doing now.

Today's guest is Trey Fryfogle, who was a wide receiver for Ole Miss out of Lucedale, Mississippi, back in 2001 and 2002. Trey made the decision to attend Ole Miss shortly after they signed Eli Manning, which he says definitely influenced his decision. He also loved the coaching staff when he got to know them and everything fell into place when he visited the campus. He definitely enjoyed his time at Ole Miss and will never forget his time in Oxford, where he made a lot of good friends he still keeps in touch with today. Trey stresses that it wasn't just football that made his time great, but the school, campus, and whole town had an impact on him. Listen in to hear about what Trey's doing these days.

September has come and gone so it's time for my monthly update on Ole MIss sports activity for this academic year. We'll start with football since that's on most everyone's mind these days. The Rebs are 3-1 and ranked in the top twenty five. Think about that for a minute. Back in August if someone had told you that's where the program would be how would you have felt? I've got to think the majority of us would have said "Hotty Toddy….so if we can beat Auburn on their home field the season's looking pretty good."

Today on the show we have Nate Banks who began his career at Ole Miss with a redshirt year in 2003 and then played from 2004 to 2007 as cornerback for the Rebs. Nate speaks of his time at Ole Miss by first giving us a background story of his older brother playing at Ole Miss years before him and spending time with his brother in Oxford. When he went through being recruited, there was no doubt in his mind that he was already a Rebel regardless of interest from Southern Miss, Arkansas, and Mississippi State. When Nate began playing it was under Coach Cutcliffe's program until Coach Orgeron came along. There was definitely an adjustment period as the program transitioned between the two coaches. When he looks at his past, Nate recalls all the big games as those he remembers the most. He remembers making the trip to LSU, to Alabama, and countless walks through the Grove. There are a lot of great memories in walking through the Grove and spending time with the Manning's while Eli was there. Listen in for my full interview with Nate Banks.

On today's show is Marvin Dickey though you may remember him better as Bubba Dickey. Marvin played at Ole Miss from 1985-88 playing linebacker until his senior season when he was an offensive guard. It's a pea sure to have Marvin on the show today so we can catch up with what's going on since those days with the Rebs. When Bubba went through recruitment in high school, LSU and Alabama were both fighting for him hard and the turning point in his recruitment was when Coach Brewer came to meet his parents and charmed Bubba's mom. Once Bubba's mom was in love with the program and the coaches took great interest in Bubba, the relationship the coaches had with his parents and himself made his decision to choose Ole Miss that much easier. Once he committed, his mom was persistent in telling the LSU recruiters that they didn't need to come by anymore! I ask Bubba to recall his times at Ole Miss and like so many others he says he has had some of the best times in his whole life at Ole Miss. He enjoyed his time on that campus and he looks back on it and sometimes can't even find the words to describe how large of an impact it had on his life. Listen in for my fun conversation with Bubba Dickey.