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Ole Miss

Ole Miss football's addition of linebacker Troy Brown helps fill "a position of need"

11by: Jake Thompson02/02/22JakeThompsonOn3
Troy Brown
Troy Brown

When Chance Campbell opted to head for the NFL and not stay for his final season of eligibility it left a gaping hole to fill in the linebacker position.

Though less than a month later it seems Lane Kiffin found Campbell’s successor, or at least that is the plan.

Troy Brown made the move to transfer from Central Michigan to Ole Miss, instantly providing a seasoned veteran back in the linebackers room.

Campbell arrived in Oxford and instantly became a force on the Rebels defense. He finished at the team’s leading tackler for the 2021 season with 109.

Now, the idea of catching lightning in a bottle twice with Brown is the goal for Kiffin and co-defensive coordinators Chris Partridge and Chris Kiffin.

Kiffin met with local and national media on Tuesday on Zoom to discuss the latest batch of transfers in this recruiting class.

“We sure hope so,” Kiffin said of expecting Brown to have an instant impact. “That was definitely a position of need with Chance leaving early and not a lot of numbers there at all at that position. You see a lot of linebackers signed, whether it’s high school, whether it’s junior college, a college transfer to replace that production.”

Brown is one of seven linebackers signed or added to the Rebels’ 2022 signing class, tying with seven defensive backs as the most in one position group.

Reginald Hughes, Carter Gibson and Danny Lockhart II join Brown as mid-year enrollees and will be part of spring practices. Gibson and Lockhart are preferred walk-ons.

Tyler Banks and Jaylon White will join the Rebels this summer after finishing up their final semester of high school.

Last season at Central Michigan, Brown recorded 66 tackles, one interception and a sack. He finished as the third best tackler on the Chippewas.

Of the returning linebackers for the Rebels, Cedric Johnson and Ashanti Cistrunk had the most production last season. Johnson recorded 33 tackles while Cistrunk finished right behind with 30.

Brandon Mack and Demon Clowney will need to see a step forward in their progression to help add more depth to the linebacker room this fall. Clowney finished with six tackles and a sack in six games played his freshman season.

With four spots remaining on the Rebels signing class, there could be a chance another linebacker finds his way to Oxford once spring practices are done and another way of players hit the portal.

Though, Kiffin noted on Tuesday there is not really any emergency needs at any position at the moment.

“I think it’s a mix,” Kiffin said. “There’s not dire needs now, but it’s best available, but at the same time, we’re going to take into account what position, too, when it’s that late.”

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