What brought Robert Nkemdiche to Ole Miss? Hugh Freeze said a big part of the star defensive lineman’s road to Oxford went through Birmingham and the BBVA Compass Bowl.
Without that first-year bowl under Freeze in 2012, the Rebels’ future might have turned out differently – and it’s a lesson with implications for other coaches around the SEC.
In Freeze’s case, it helped him land Nkemdiche, the unanimous No. 1 overall recruit in the nation in the 2013 class.
“When I came here, I didn’t think it was realistic, to be honest, that we would go to a bowl game in Year 1,” Freeze said Wednesday during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference.