Ole Miss recruiting: Can Wesley McGriff flip 4-star C.J. Avery?

Four-star safety C.J. Avery committed to Louisville via Twitter last week, but his close bond with recently-hired Ole Miss defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff is reason to believe the Rebels have a chance for the flip.

Before last week’s pledge, Avery told AL.com that McGriff, who coached Avery’s father at Kentucky State in the late 90s is “one of the closest people I'm with in recruitment right now.” McGriff was already recruiting Avery to Auburn, which was one of the four finalists during Avery’s commitment ceremony (the other two, in addition to Louisville, were Ole Miss and Mississippi State).

Of course, Avery was aware of the McGriff-to-Ole-Miss rumors before he made that commitment, so there’s no guarantee the hire will change anything. "There's rumors I've heard that he could be the new DC at Ole Miss,” Avery told AL.com, “but we'll see how that shakes out."

Still, McGriff’s connection could generate renewed interest in Ole Miss, which is just an hour’s drive north of Avery’s hometown of Greneda, Miss.

An Ole Miss LB commit got an offer from Oregon’s new staff.

McGriff’s top priority on the recruiting trail will be linebackers, which makes it somewhat concerning that three-star Josh Clarke, the only 2017 high school backer currently committed to Ole Miss, tweeted this last week:

When Clarke committed to Ole Miss back in June, he listed the opportunity for freshman playing time as a one of the major reasons. Outside of freshman Troy Dye, Oregon’s linebacking corps aren’t much better off than Ole Miss’, which means Clarke might find similar opportunity in Eugene. Clarke recently told Nola.com that he’s considering a trip to visit the Ducks’ campus (as well as Colorado).

Not that Rebel fans should be hitting the panic button or anything. Clarke is still scheduled to make his official trip to Oxford before Signing Day and there’s no reason yet to think he’s considering backing out of his pledge to the Rebels. Still, this is worth monitoring given Ole Miss’ desperate need for linebackers.

Speaking of linebackers, this four-star might join Clarke in Oxford.

Four-star inside linebacker Breon Dixon has been on Ole Miss’ radar for a few months now and his 247Sports Crystal Ball currently favors the Rebs. He recently tweeted this Photoshop of he and Clarke:

Breon isn’t the only one chirping on Twitter about him donning the red and blue. Current Rebel A.J. Brown has some thoughts on his recruitment.

Dixon, ranked the No. 11 inside linebacker in the country, is a former Georgia commit who just won a state championship with Grayson High, the alma mater of the Nkemdiche brothers. He’s expected to make his decision at the Under Armour All-American Game on Jan. 1. His official visits include Ole Miss, Louisville and TCU, and Tennessee and Georgia are also in the mix.

An early enrollee, Dixon could be an immediate contributor to McGriff’s defense.