Pete Golding and Ole Miss Rebels lock in key offensive talents and now host underrated defensive star from the transfer portal

Ole Miss lands WRs for the offense and could now land extremely productive edge rusher Liam Danitz via the portal

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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Pete Golding and his staff are putting together a wildly impressive transfer portal class amid the new Ole Miss head coach’s first go at it. Their class looks like it might finish as high as second in the team transfer portal rankings. They’ve added 17 total players in total. It looks like they’ve locked in the finishing touches on the offense. Now they’re turning their attention to adding the most underrated defensive talent in the portal as well.

Ole Miss has rounded out WR group via the transfer portal

Harrison “Tre” Wallace and De’Zhaun Stribling are both headed to the 2026 NFL Draft. It was clear that Pete Golding was going to have to restock the wide receiver room. Cayden Lee looks like he’s returning since he wasn’t among the underclassmen who declared early for the NFL Draft and there’s just one more day to enter the transfer portal. He should still be the leader of the WR group. However, outside of him and Deuce Alexander (who broke out this season), Ole Miss wasn’t going to return many proven weapons.

First, Ole Miss brought in Cameron Miller from Kentucky who could grow into a replacement for either Lee or Alexander. Now Golding and his staff have added the two most likely candidates at wide receiver to play critical critical perimeter roles in the offense this season, both within just a couple days of one another.

Isaiah Spencer from Virginia Tech — who committed this week — hasn’t produced a ton at the FBS level, but his flashes are incredible (as you can see in the highlight post below).

Darrell Gill Jr. from Syracuse — who committed shortly after Spencer — is much more proven, and is likely the top option to start this season for the Rebels. Gill has three seasons of experience already with 70 catches, over 1100 yards, and eight receiving touchdowns scored. Gill should, at the very least, compete against Caleb Cunningham and other depth playmakers for significant snaps. Spencer and Gill complete an extremely talented wide receiver room.

Ole Miss hosting Hope College EDGE Liam Danitz

Now, the last few pieces that need adding to Ole Miss still probably live on the defensive side of the ball. The Rebels finished the 2025 college football season ranked 118th in rush success rate allowed on defense. The defensive issues against the run and tackling problems are what led to Ole Miss’ exit from the College Football Playoff. How was Pete Golding going to fix the defense? That was the major question for many Ole Miss fans.

The Rebels immediately prioritized massive acquisitions via the transfer portal at every level of the defense as soon as they were jettisoned from the playoff. Now they have their eye on a player who could be better than any other acquisition yet.

Liam Danitz, an underrated D-III edge rusher from Hope College is headed to Oxford for a visit. D-III edge defenders might not excite most people, but he’s not any ordinary lower level player.

Danitz is a former All-American sprinter who runs a sub-10.6-second 100-meter dash. He tallied nearly 50 tackles, 21 for a loss, and 15 sacks last season. He’s already visited with a handful of other top programs around the country. Ole Miss could offer an immediately significant role on an SEC defense from day one.

If Golding and his staff can land Danitz, they should be able to fix their run defense and pass rush depth in just one transfer portal acquisition. Hopefully they close the deal.

We’ll be back with more Ole Miss Rebels coverage here at A to Z Sports soon. Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news.

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