Rebel Grove Staff Directory

Billy Embody (Publisher) – Billy joined The Ole Miss Spirit in November 2024, covering the Rebels for On3 after covering LSU and SMU, where he graduated from in 2014. In July 2025, he was named Publisher of the rebranded Rebel Grove website for On3 | Rivals.

Prior to joining the Ole Miss beat, Billy worked for On3 as the SEC GM, working behind the scenes to lead growth for our site and other SEC sites. He and his wife Michelle welcomed their son, Jack, in March 2024.

Billy’s covered SMU since 2012 when he was a student following a stint as a walk-on quarterback in 2010. The Tampa, Fla. native worked for Scout, 247Sports and On3Sports. From 2016-24, he covered LSU, getting his first opportunity to cover the SEC. At SMU, Billy was also a Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholar, president of Phi Gamma Delta and active in SMU TV and the Daily Campus.

Email Billy at [email protected]. You can follow him on X @BillyEmbody or Instagram @BillyEmbodyOn3.

Ben Garrett (Editor/Co-Publisher) — Ben Garrett joined the Ole Miss Spirit in 2008, fresh off graduating from Ole Miss and spending six months toiling away at a media relations desk job in New Orleans. Previous stops include FOX Sports, USA Today, the Clarion-Ledger, the Daily Journal and VSporto.

Ben is the lead recruiting analyst and co-lead, along with Chuck Rounsaville, breaking news reporter for the Spirit. He also hosts a twice-weekly Ole Miss podcast, Talk of Champions, which can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

He and his wife, Emily, have daughters Gracie and Rylee. Did you know the Dallas Cowboys, Ben’s favorite team, have the lowest playoff winning percentage, outside of the Detroit Lions, since 1996? Ben does. At least the Atlanta Braves won the World Series.

Ben can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter, @SpiritBen.

Chuck Rounsaville (Publisher Emeritus) — Ole Miss Spirit Publisher Chuck Rounsaville was one of a trio of Rebels who started The Spirit in 1982 out of Leland, MS, and has spent his professional life reporting on his beloved Rebels. In 1986, he became the sole proprietor of The Spirit and has ushered it from a tabloid newspaper format into an internet fan site that is turned to by thousands of Reb fans.

Chuck’s philosophy on covering the Rebels has always been “optimistically objective.” He makes no apologies for being an Ole Miss fan – his father, Babe, was a Rebel gridder in the early to mid 1930s – and a self-described “homer.” He wears the title proudly. Recently, Rounsaville started an NIL fund – Spirit LLC – to help Ole Miss athletes receive compensation for promoting fellow Rebels’ businesses.

Chuck, a Byhalia, MS, native, and his family have lived in Oxford since 1986. His wife, Wanda, is a retired schoolteacher and his two daughters, Michelle and Gina, still reside in Oxford along with his four grandchildren. Recently, Rounsaville started an NIL fund – Spirit LLC – to help Ole Miss athletes receive compensation for promoting fellow Rebels.

Chuck can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter, @SpiritChuck.

Jake Thompson (Staff Writer) — Jake Thompson joined the Ole Miss Spirit in November of 2021 as the team coverage beat writer. For the last 11 years, Jake has covered Ole Miss athletics for different publications including the Daily Mississippian, The Oxford Eagle and now with the Spirit. During football season, Jake does the pregame tailgate radio show in The Grove on home games.

An Ole Miss graduate, Jake returned to Oxford in 2010 to finish up school and received his degree in 2013. A lifelong Ole Miss fan, Jake is living his “dream job” of covering the Rebels and providing the best coverage for Ole Miss fans everywhere.

Jake can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter, @JakeThompsonOn3.