Chris Wilkes excited about OM's new staff

The 6' 4", 220 pound signal caller out of Orlando has become a focal point for the newly hired Ole Miss staff.

"I have been talking to them 3 or 4 times a week," added an excited Chris Wilkes. "I talk to Coaches Nutt, Lee, Vaughn, Dickerson, just about all of them."

What have they been telling the All-State selection?

"They are just glad I coming to Ole Miss. They are real excited about me. Coach Nutt has been watching a lot of game tapes of me, and he thinks I can be a big time QB for his pro style offense."

The Rebels had one of their three scholarship QB's leave the team (Michael Herrick) at the end of the season. This has placed an even greater emphasis on Chris.

"I know Michael (Herrick) left. I can't believe he did that. But oh well. Coach Nutt told me they wanted to sign 2 QB's in this class. They need as many as they can get."

Chris will not arrive to Oxford until he graduates in May, but that is not going to stop him from getting familiar with the offense.

"They are sending their playbook to me when the dead period is over. They know I am not interested in anybody else. They know I am 100% Ole Miss."

But that has not stopped other colleges from trying to take advantage of the coaching change.

"My coach tells me that the same ones (Georgia Tech, Clemson, Miami) are trying to get me to change my mind. They are telling him that Ole Miss had a coaching change, and it is not a good school for me to succeed. It is kind of funny some of the things they are saying."

Chris believes the Rebels are on the verge of becoming a national power.

"Coach Nutt is a winner, plain and simple, and he gets players there. They should have had the Heisman winner. He knows how to develop players. We are not going to have to sit around and develop players though. The players are already there at Ole Miss. They just needed a coach to finish the job. We are going to win big while I am at Ole Miss. I promise you that."

There are a couple of players that Wilkes would like to follow him to Ole Miss.

"I am going to be calling some players like DeAndre Brown, Ty Hilton, and Leonard Johnson shortly. I played with Danny White in the Central Florida All-star game. He is nasty. Arkansas offered him, so now with their staff coming over to Ole Miss, there is a good chance he could be coming to Ole Miss. Danny told me he would love to go to Ole Miss with me. Also my fullback, Tommy Shuler, is committed to Arkansas but you never know now. I spoke with Coach Vaughn, and I think they are interested."

How did Chris fare in the Central Florida All-star game?

"We won 21-10. Me and Damien Allen hooked up for around 70 yards. I threw for 150 something yards and ran for another 40. It was a great experience."

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