Ole Miss hiring former Georgia quarterback Joe Cox as tight ends coach, per report

Ole Miss is expected to hire Alabama tight ends coach Joe Cox to serve in the same role for the program, per Matt Zenitz. Cox spent the past two seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Cox will replace John David Baker, who accepted the offer to become East Carolina’s offensive coordinator in December of last year. Cox was not retained by Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. He is the third assistant coach Ole Miss has added this offseason, along with Bryan Brown and George McDonald.

While at Alabama, Joe Cox mentored Cameron Latu, who the San Francisco 49ers selected with the No. 101 overall pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. In 2023, Cox’s tight ends unit was led by Amari Niblack, who tallied 20 receptions for 327 yards and four touchdowns.

Cox has also spent time coaching at Charlotte, South Carolina and Colorado State. Cox played college football at Georgia, where he was the starting quarterback in 2009. Cox completed 185-of-331 pass attempts for 2,584 yards and 24 touchdowns in the ’09 campaign, which, at the time, was the second-best single-season total in UGA history.

More on Ole Miss’ offseason progress

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is confident in where Ole Miss stands ahead of next season.

“Well, I’ve never been anywhere four years. First off, I feel safe,” Kiffin said. “We talked about it this whole press conference. We’re in a really good place. We’re starting something really special.

“I think today’s another message, which obviously you saw all these great players around the country the last month sign up to come join these guys. Today is another message as you look at the MVPs up here and the guys that came in here to do something special.”

New coaches aren’t the only additions Ole Miss has made in the offseason. The Rebels boast the No. 3 transfer class in On3’s Transfer Portal Team Rankings. The group is headlined by five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen.

In a conversation with On3’s Andy Staples, OMSpirit’s Zach Berry pulled back the curtain on the Rebels’ monstrous incoming transfer class.

“The portal, it’s been Kiffin’s way of bridging that gap between the tier 1 SEC, the tier 1 national programs, to make not only Ole Miss relevant in a dark horse playoff team. To where now I think there is no dark horse anymore. They are a legit threat to the College Football Playoff,” Berry said.