QB John Rhys Plumlee Is Learning New Techniques From New Coaching Staff

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss sophomore quarterback John Rhys Plumlee met with the media on Wednesday following fall practice.

Even with the current situation surrounding COVID-19, Plumlee feels comfortable heading into football season.

“Since coming back to campus, it really made me want to play more,” Plumlee said. “The precautions that we take and everything that we do makes me really confident in our safety while we are here playing football.”

The change will be more challenging for the quarterbacks than any other position group. The signal-callers must transition from a run-heavy attack led by former offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez to a balanced scheme. Lane Kiffin, who has coached multiple 3,000-yard passers as well as 1,000-yard rushers, will be its overseer. In this new era, the quarterback must know his offense inside and out. For that, they head to the film room.

“With this new offense, there’s a lot that’s on our plate,” Plumlee said. “As quarterbacks, you want to know everybody’s role, everybody’s job, so we decided to take it upon ourselves to come in a little bit earlier to be able to watch some film.” 

Plumlee has worked to get more consistent and more productive with his passing game throughout the offseason. He credits Offensive Coordinator Jeff Lebby, along with other new members of staff, with helping him. 

“I have learned from them. That has helped me a lot for sure,” Plumlee said.

Plumlee’s ability to run with the ball is a strong part of his game, but he also needs to be able to sit in the pocket and throw the ball against a defense.

“Working on different aspects of your game, being able to see different defenses, knowing your answers when a defense presents you something,” he said. “A lot of it is done with not really seeing the defense as much, but really knowing our offense to the point in which you are presented with something to know where our answers are as an offense.”

The Southeastern Conference released its full 2020 schedule featuring all in-conference games on Monday. The players will have plenty on their plates between now and then, but with the path paved, they can’t help but feel confident about what’s to come.

“I’m really excited,” Plumlee said. “Everyone I talked to on the team is really excited as well. I talked to Elijah Moore… He said, ‘They can’t say anything.’ Which means, when we prove ourselves, when we make plays or do really good against these teams, you can’t say that these teams aren’t talented. We’re going to be playing against really talented teams, but we’re very confident going into the season.”