Jaxson, just what have the last few months
kind of been like for you? I bet kind of a whirlwind.
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I keep like reflecting on it,
and if, you know, you would have told me
that my first year of college would have turned out this way,
I would have told you you were crazy.
But, yeah, it's been -- it's been quite a whirlwind,
but I'm thankful for where I'm at right now.
How hard was it to leave USC?
It was really hard. You know, just like the bonds,
the connections that I made there, you know.
My teammates. My friends. Leaving those guys was hard.
But, you know, it was -- it was what was best for me
and for me to, you know, achieve my goals for the future.
So, I kind of like to have it with that kind of mindset,
but, you know, honestly, it was hard.
What was it about Ole Miss
that made you ultimately decide to come here?
Yeah, I mean, ultimately just seeing,
you know, the production that they had last year.
You know, hearing about it on the news when --
when I was at SC,
and then watching highlights when I was in the portal,
and then meeting with the coaches.
I -- I loved how electric the offense is.
You know, it's super quarterback friendly.
And I loved the, you know, just the excitement
and everything it carries around with it.
I loved how, you know, Coach Kiffin has --
has really turned some things around here
and has brought it --
brought it back to what it used to be.
And, you know, so that --
that was something that really excited me.
What's the relationship, obviously it's close,
with (inaudible)?
What's that bond like between y'all?
Man, that's -- that's my brother.
You know, he came into SC.
He was -- he wasn't an early enrollee,
so he came a little bit later than me,
but, you know, it was like right off the bat
when we got to meet each other, we just became super close.
And, you know, when all the discussion
was going down with me getting in the portal, he was --
he texted me right away and he was like,
hey, bro, I'm going where you're going.
And, yeah, so I just think that, you know, our friendship
is just really close and we -- we have that brotherhood.
How's your relationship with Luke Altmyer?
Yeah, Luke's a great kid.
I remember like one of my first days coming in here,
we threw in the indoor facility with some of the receivers,
and he was the first kid to come shake my hand.
So, he's -- he's a great kid and I could tell that,
you know, he's -- he's raised really well.
And, yeah, we're -- we're good friends.
(Inaudible) kind of competition,
or maybe y'all don't view it that way,
but how do y'all (inaudible)?
Yeah, I mean, for me, I came into SC in a similar position.
I committed with another kid who was in my class.
So, for me, it's kind of similar.
It's like I haven't really -- I'm in the same position
as I was when I first came -- when I first went to SC.
You know, we obviously have the same goals in mind,
and, you know, I think it's just, you know,
it's competition that brings the best in both of us.
It's going to push us
and help us become better players ultimately.
You talked about the offense being a good fit.
Just kind of how has the transition
been these first couple of weeks?
Is it as smooth as you thought it would be
or is it still kind of (inaudible)?
Yeah, obviously, it's new stuff for me.
I mean it was, last week,
we'd come into, you know, the first three days,
and there were new things I haven't ran before.
So, just getting those reps really helps.
But if I compare myself to where
I was last spring to this spring,
I feel like I'm a lot farther ahead
with just like my knowledge of the game.
And I think Coach Weis has done a great job
with that with, you know,
helping the quarterbacks understand defenses more
and really meeting with us beforehand
to get us ready before spring ball even started.
I felt like we had almost, you know,
at least 75% of the whole install in
before spring ball even started.
So, just meeting with him has been an easy transition for me,
you know, getting to know the offense.
And from here on out I think it's mostly just reps
and understanding how guys play,
and their speeds, and -- and all that stuff.
(Inaudible.)
Yeah. Yeah, I'm super excited about it.
I felt like last year
I really only got to have half of a quarter
where I was actually really healthy
and got to show what I was -- what I'm capable of.
You know, I hurt my knee against Washington State
and I was out for a few weeks.
And even when I came back, I wasn't a hundred percent.
So, you know, there's some things with my legs
that I wasn't able to really showcase.
But I would just say, you know,
you can't really be complacent on anything,
you've got to work at everything.
I would say a big thing for me is probably just my footwork
and my timing to the different concepts that we have
and, you know, getting in a good rhythm with that
because I feel like if my feet are right,
then, you know, everything will play out good.
What have you seen so far,
who's kind of stood out (inaudible)
to you on -- on the offensive side of the ball?
Hmm, there's been a lot of guys.
We have a lot of really, really good players.
I -- Mingo. Mingo has been a big one to me.
He's just like a leader and, you know, he's a great athlete.
I think he's going to be a guy coming into this
next draft class that's kind of flying under the radar
and he's going to make a big name for himself.
I feel like the offensive line group as a whole.
They're really close and they communicate
really well with one another.
And they're all really, really, solid players.
You know, all of our running backs.
Zach, (inaudible), Kentrel,
those guys are really good players.
And then they're really explosive, they got great speed,
and I think that they're going to do a great job for us.
I think that we're going to have one of the most
talented offenses in the SEC,
and, you know, I'm super excited for it.
We hear so much about quarterbacks being in the portal
and the wild west with the (inaudible)
and all that stuff.
From your experience being in there, how wild is that?
Like what is that experience like to be (inaudible)?
Yeah, it's -- it's crazy.
When I was being recruited out of high school,
my recruitment came really late,
so there was only a select few schools
that I was in contact with.
And it was like literally the second
I got the email that I was going into the portal,
I felt like I couldn't even like look at my phone.
Like I just needed like space. So, it was --
it was crazy because you kind of felt like you --
you have -- you have an idea
that you're going into the portal before you --
you do, obviously.
So, you kind of schools that you're interested in
before being in contact with them.
You know, so you try to be respectful to --
to all the coaches, but you kind of have like
the select few that you're -- you're really looking at.
But, yeah, like right when I got in,
like that was something that, you know,
I would have never thought would have happened.
For a lot of portal guys, though,
it's just like a one-year decision.
Right
For you it was more than that, I think.
Right. Did that change kind of the --
the way you approached it in terms of
maybe wanting to take your time or make your mind up
because it wasn't just having to go some place
for one season to play?
Yeah. Definitely. I, you know, I thought going to SC,
I thought it was going to be a little bit more stable
with the coaching staff.
And like you said, I don't -- I don't' have just one year.
So, I gotta make it, you know,
I had to make a decision based on,
you know, what was best for me for,
you know, possibly the next three years, right.
So, I was trying to find a stable -- stable place,
and I would be able to surround myself
with people who would help me grow
and develop as a player and as a person.
So, I think that because of that it took a little bit more time
just because I had to dive into deeper --
into deeper things
and try to get as much information as I can.
You probably don't want to get into specifics,
but how much of a cloud was NIL over that whole thing?
Were people throwing money (inaudible)
during the recruiting or was that kind of never discussed?
I mean, I'm not a kid who looks for stuff like that.
You know, I'm -- I'm a football player.
I want to play football.
And, you know, I feel like if I can play good on the field,
that stuff will come.
And that's -- that's my whole purpose.
I committed to a school to play football,
and that's -- that's my whole focus.
Did you keep up with SEC much
when you were growing up in Utah?
I really didn't. It was mostly all just PAC-12.
But I knew that when I was going into the portal,
I wanted to go to the SEC.
So, those were like, you know, some of the main schools.
Why?
Because it gets you to develop for the NFL.
I feel like if you can be successful
and play in the SEC, then it's an easier transition to the NFL.
You play in, you know, a lot better competition week
in and week out.
You're playing in really cool environments.
And, you know, you've got to make a lot of adjustments.
You can't just, you know, you can't -- there's some --
there's some games in some conferences
where you can just have better athletes than another team
and you can just outplay them
just because you have better athletes.
In this it's more about scheme
and you have to schematically beat them.
And you have to be smarter than them
because they have just as good of players as you do.
So, that was -- that was a big reason
why I chose to come to the SEC.
Hard getting acclimated with living in Mississippi?
Yeah, it's -- it's complete polar opposites than LA.
I would say it's -- it's more similar to Utah
and more just like how like controlled the environments are
and how like just kind of more low-key it is.
So, when I compare it to Utah, there's not like a whole big --
like there's not a huge difference.
But comparing it to LA and the things that I'm used to,
it's kind of polar opposites. But, you know,
I'm getting transitioned well into it for sure.
And I love -- I love the aspect that you can --
you can come to work every day, and you can focus on football.
There's not as many distractions around you.
And there's really good people around you
who help push you to -- to your goals.
(Inaudible) Ole Miss had a reputation for (inaudible).
Has it kind of lived up to it
even though you haven't been here all that long?
Yeah, no doubt. You know, I -- I still remember when me
and Trey came on our visit, and we walked into, you know,
just like a little restaurant with --
with our families.
And the amount of people who came up to us,
and knew who we were, and we were just on our visit.
And, you know, students weren't even in school at the time.
I thought that that was really cool.
And I -- I just love the support
and how involved people are here.
It's really cool.
Matt Corral is another guy who is west-coast based.
Right. Have you talked (inaudible)
at all about kind of transitioning?
Yeah, so, me and Matt were in -- in contact a lot when --
when I was trying to decide between schools
because, obviously, he was coached by Coach Lebby,
and he was also, you know, he was here.
So, you know, me and Matt had a lot of conversations.
And, you know, I think that I can --
I can say with confidence
that he likes the south more than he likes the west coast.
And he had nothing but really good things to say about --
about Mississippi.
I'm sure you've been asked a hundred times
what's the story on the pukas?
Geez. There's not really anything crazy.
I went to Hawaii my freshman year in high school
and had a few -- I got a puka shell there.
It kind of broke when I was in high school,
and then I went back after,
I guess it was this time last year,
went back to Hawaii and saw some puka shells that I liked
and decided to start wearing it. And then I liked it.
And I kinda just stuck with it. And, uh, you know,
they've been -- they've been really good for me.
But just, you know, they stay on during games,
and I can wear them wherever I go.
And I kind of feel like that's kinda like my thing now,
so I have -- I have to rock with it.
(Inaudible) previously,
but Lane obviously being a west coast guy (inaudible)?
Yeah.
He, you know, like you said, he coached at SC for a while.
He has his family who lives in California,
so, you know, when I was in California with my family,
he came out and we had a, you know,
a home visit in California when I was there just training.
And, you know, he's helped a lot with my transition, you know,
because he's had to transition from place to place,
and he's been, you know, a huge advocate.