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Freeze Announces First Additions To Ole Miss Football Staff
OXFORD,
Miss. – Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze announced on Thursday the first
additions to his Rebel football staff. Dave Wommack was named the
Rebels’ defensive coordinator and safeties coach, Maurice Harris will
serve as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator, Tom Allen will be
the linebackers coach, and Chris Kiffin was named defensive line coach.
All four assistant coaches were members of Freeze’s staff at Arkansas State.
Wommack,
who has over 30 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level,
has coached teams to 18 bowl games and been a part of 28 winning
seasons. He brings 16 years of experience as a defensive coordinator,
with successful stints at Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Southern Miss, UNLV,
Missouri State and Bemidji State.
Wommack, a native of
Kimberling City, Mo., has spent 12 years tutoring the secondary.
The 1999 and 2000 Broyles Award nominee coached on nine teams that won
a conference championship and also participated in trips to the NCAA
Division I-AA playoffs in 1989 and 1990.
This season,
Wommack directed an Arkansas State defense that led the Sun Belt
Conference in total defense (325.67 ypg) and scoring defense (19.33
ppg) and ranked in the top-20 in the NCAA in both categories. A-State
also topped the league and ranked 12th in the nation in tackles for
loss (7.33 pg) and finished 17th in the NCAA in QB sacks (2.67 pg).
Wommack coached seven players to 2011 all-conference honors, including Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Joiner.
“I’m
very excited about Dave Wommack and his level of experience, having won
at the highest level of college football,” Freeze said. “The job he did
at Arkansas State gives me great confidence in him leading our defense
and our young men waiting to play for him and his scheme.
“Surrounding
him with Tom Allen and Chris Kiffin, they will bring tremendous energy
and passion to his staff. They both love recruiting and are technicians
in coaching their position and capturing those kids. Defensively,
that’s a really good foundation for us to start.”
For
Harris, this marks his second stop at Ole Miss, as he served as the
Assistant Athletics Director for Internal Football Operations for the
Rebels in 2006.
Harris was part of an Arkansas State
offense this year that led the Sun Belt Conference in total offense
(453.2 ypg) and scoring (33.50 ppg). His tight ends unit also helped an
A-State rushing attack that ranked second in the conference (181.58
ypg).
During his two seasons in Jonesboro, Harris coached
All-Sun Belt selections David Johnson, who was drafted by the NFL's
Pittsburgh Steelers, and J.T. Jordan. Harris also helped develop
Kedric Murry into a starting tight end for the Red Wolves as just a
redshirt freshman in 2009, and Trevor Gillott ranked third on the team
in receptions and set individual career-best marks in 2011 under his
watch.
Harris returned to his alma mater of ASU as tight
ends coach after serving as Alabama State's offensive coordinator and
running backs coach during the 2007 season. He worked with Alabama
State Head Coach Reggie Barlow to design the overall offensive game
plan and calling plays and helped the offense improve its total yards
and points from the previous season and coached the Southwestern
Athletic Conference's leading rusher and MVP Jay Peck.
“One
thing you have to have is passionate recruiters, and Maurice is one of
those coaches that really loves it,” said Freeze. “He has strong ties
in North Mississippi, Memphis and Arkansas, and I expect him to be one
of our key recruiters along with coaching our tight ends.”
Over
the last 18 years of his coaching career, Allen has coached teams with
a combined 184-43 record for an .811 winning percentage. That record
covers stops at six different schools in Florida, Tennessee, Indiana,
Iowa, Lambuth and Arkansas State, and four of those schools had a
losing record the season prior to Allen's arrival.
As
A-State's linebackers coach, Allen assisted in building the Red Wolves’
top-20 nationally ranked defense. He also coached first-team
all-conference selection Demario Davis and second-team pick Nathan
Herrold.
The New Castle, Ind. native had equally
impressive results as Lambuth's assistant head coach, defensive
coordinator and linebacker coach in 2008 and 2009 while the program was
under the leadership of Freeze. He was part of two Mid-South Conference
championships, and Lambuth's 2009 squad produced the school's first
undefeated regular season (11-0). Nationally, his 2009 defense ranked
No. 4 in scoring defense, No. 7 in pass defense and sacks, No. 9 in
total defense and No. 12 in third down conversions.
While
at Lambuth, Allen mentored eight first team all-conference players, one
NAIA All-America selection and a Mid-South Conference Freshman of the
Year.
Kiffin, the younger brother of USC head coach Lane
Kiffin and son of USC assistant head coach Monte Kiffin, coached an
Arkansas State defensive line that helped lead the league and rank 12th
in the nation in tackles for loss and 17th in QB sacks.
He
mentored 2011 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Joiner, who
ranked fourth in the nation with 12.0 QB sack. He also coached Dorvus
Woods to second team all-conference honors.
He joined
the A-State coaching staff after serving as an administrative assistant
for the Trojans' defense in 2009. The Trojans finished the year
8-5 with a 28-14 victory over UCLA in the Rose Bowl stadium. Prior to
joining the staff at USC, Kiffin was in charge of offensive quality
control at Nebraska from Feb. 2008 through Feb. 2010.
Before
Nebraska, Kiffin was a quality control intern with the NFL’s Tampa Bay
Buccaneers in 2006. During his time with the Buccaneers, Kiffin
gained experience working with the defensive line during off-season
OTAs and mini-camps.
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