SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 15, 2024

Jared Ivey

Ole Miss Rebels

Press Conference

Q. The Egg Bowl has been moved off Thanksgiving this year. Does it make any difference to you, or what do you think?

JARED IVEY: I don't think so. I think it will be nice for everybody to just enjoy that time with their families and then still be able to enjoy the game that weekend.

I think it will be pretty good. I think it will be pretty good. I know all the fans and stuff, they're used to it. You'll have to ask them if they feel some type of way.

Q. Bouncing off the Egg Bowl, my question, Oklahoma and Texas are joining the SEC and that's a big rivalry amongst their fan bases, but I want you to tell me a little bit about the Egg Bowl, the heated rivalry. What it's like, the fan base, the week everything leading up to the Egg Bowl? Tell me about the Egg Bowl.

JARED IVEY: It's unbelievable. The town shuts down. I remember Tom Luke, he used to play quarterback at Ole Miss. He told me a story about how he got hurt in the Egg Bowl one of the years playing quarterback. He was listening to it on the radio, and he just wanted to know if they won. That was the only thing he was worried about. He wasn't worried about his injury. He gets up, gives a really emotional speech every year, just that Thursday before the game or that Wednesday in the meeting room before the game, just so that we kind of understand the gravity of it. And being in the city and going to Walmart or going to get something to eat, people, the fans, they come up to you and they let you know they're behind you and how much they care about it. It's just an exciting game.

Q. Curious about a guy that actually came from Oklahoma to Ole Miss this offseason, Key Lawrence, what addition has he been for the back end defense?

JARED IVEY: He's a stud player. He's a really smart player and he's a really big communicator. So I think just that room really coming together and gelling, we've had a lot of new guys in that position. Every year we've got a new guy coming and playing that star, nickel, strong safety type position.

So for us to have such a big group of elite guys in that room, I think Key, Yam, John, Tre, they all stand out as just elite communicators and students of the game.

Q. You've been with Oxford for a while, seen multiple defensive coordinators. What is it about Pete Golding that is able to attract a lot of these players? I'm sure you're looking at it like, how are you bringing all these dudes in here? Because the defense is really stacked this year.

JARED IVEY: It's interesting, if you met the cool frat dude that everybody rocks with, he just has that vibe about him. He has a certain level of confidence that I feel like contagious and infectious. It makes you feel that type of confidence.

On top of that, I think his ability to simplify such a complex defense and such a complex game is second to none. I think that his ability to just take what he's trying to get done schematically and explain it and bottle it up into these little categories that he does and make it easy for us to understand, I think, it's elite. It's truly a skill.

I mean, I have gotten balanced better playing for the guy.

Q. What advice would you give the Oklahoma team as a whole about playing in the SEC and playing in Oxford specifically?

JARED IVEY: I'm not sure. I've got this question a few times today. I think just play ball. Keep working and enjoy it, enjoy the history of it, enjoy having a logo and doing different stuff and going different places and making different connections with it. I think just take it all in is what I would say.

Q. You're getting a lot of preseason attention. What's the key thing you need to do in handling that?

JARED IVEY: I think just keep doing what we're already doing. We take that 1-0 type of mindset that every day is a new season. Every day is a new game to us, like, and we're just trying to win the day and stay in the moment. And I think trusting that the compound interest on that would turn into what we want it to.

Q. I'm kind of curious, what do you know about Brent Venables, his defense? Were you recruited by him? How familiar are you with Venables and his defense?

JARED IVEY: I'm not very familiar with him personally, but I actually grew up a Clemson fan as a child. I've been to a bunch of games. I actually was on TV like storming the field, standing behind Ben Boulware at home and stuff, and I took a video of me posted up with Coach Venables. Obviously I was just a fan. But that's to the extent I know about Coach Venables.

Q. What about your knowledge of Oklahoma, the history, what their tradition's like, and just the football program as a whole?

JARED IVEY: I'll be honest, their fight song, since the original NCAA '14 game came out, has always been my favorite fight song. But besides that, I'm from Suwanee, Georgia. That's almost all the way across the world to me. I'm sure they have a rich tradition.

Obviously they have multiple Heismans in the past decade with Baker and Kyler. So excited to add those guys to the conference. I think it will just make the SEC greater than it already is.

Q. What do you feel the defense will be stronger, what unit? I know you feel confident about all the players on the defense, but you have all the transfers. Where will they be the strongest, do you think?

JARED IVEY: That's a good question. We've added transfers in every room. I feel like it will really like show up as a whole, like just collectively I think it will show up. I'm super excited about Walt. I'm super excited about Presley. I'm super excited about Key. I'm very excited about Trey Amos and TJ Dudley, who couldn't play last year, was a transfer. I think he'll have an unbelievable year. Top-down I'm very excited just about the new guys that we've acquired.

Q. How do you feel about video replay going to be available on the sidelines this season, what kind of benefit do you think that's going to have for you guys?

JARED IVEY: I think it's going to create a huge advantage, obviously, both ways. We were able to do that in high school in Georgia. So I know -- like I have experience like being coached like that and I have seen what kind of advantage that you can gain from that.

I'm excited to just see how that can help us this upcoming season.

Q. Which road venue do you like going to most in the conference?

JARED IVEY: I think I really enjoy playing at Cal Field. I thought that was a really cool experience. I really liked when my first year here we went back and played Tech in Atlanta. I transferred from Georgia Tech. Going back home and being there, I thought it was awesome. For this year I'm really excited to get down there and play in The Swamp and playing South Carolina, obviously Coach Spurrier and Tim Tebow and Cam Newton, and just all the talent that's ran through both of those programs and all the history that comes with all those programs and the new way the conferences work without east and west we're able to have these match-ups. I'm really excited to go there and play these guys.

Q. You almost had a tremendous season, 11 wins last year but had some difficulties against the top echelon teams. What do you have to do better against them?

JARED IVEY: I think the consistency and the mental errors is what we've got to do better against them.

When you play against guys that are just as good as you, the same talent as you or maybe better, the attention to detail has to be paramount. You have to be so detailed because mistakes that are slight against some other teams won't slide against the very best teams and mistakes like that get exposed. I think that's a big thing that we've got to focus on this year.