Losing Charlie Weis Jr. to Lane Kiffin was supposed to be Ole Miss's ultimate catastrophe this offseason. But Rebels' new OC John Baker is stifling that misconception one day at a time.
Since Weis Jr. led the Rebels' offense in their entire offseason run, there was thisn common anxiety whether Baker would be able to match the OC genius of Weis Jr.
Coming fesh from their gated spring practice, QB Trinidad Chambliss gave a very stong reason why Baker could excel at the job much better than anyone is expecting.
Trinidad Chambliss on why OC John David Baker is not a point of concern
"There are a lot of similarities. He was here from 2020 to 2022, so he knows the offense. It’s basically the same system. There are some new plays and terminology, but overall it’s very similar," Chambliss said in his spring presser.
As of now, the QB room is throwing to the staffers in the spring practice.
Baker comes back to Mississippi to lead an offense he is already familiar with. Meaning he doesn't have to start from square one. This gives him a long runway to prepare the locker room for another College Football Playoff run this season.
How Baker builds that chemistry is going to be the interesting thing to lookout for.
Weis Jr. was notorious for blending his NFL-like snappy plays with Kiffin's aggressive speed-and-space approach. His creative pre-snap motions in the red zone used a high volume of "jet sweeps" and "orbit motions" not just to hand the ball off, but to displace linebackers.
Plus, receivers were able to find open grass often times, thanks to Weis Jr's vertical passing game.
Ole Miss's locker room has excellent tools this season for Baker to churn out an even more lethal offense than Weis Jr. did. The transfer portal and the returning players all make an offense that would easily become any defense's nightmare, only if Baker can nail the combinations and the routes.
How well he actually does that is the million-dollar question.
Bottom line: Baker would still need to prove himself in the hostile gameday environment despite the affirmations from Chambliss to truly silence the lingering concern.