George County football’s M.J. Daniels flips to Ole Miss on signing day

‘Tis the season as Ole Miss Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin likes to call it ‘Merry Flipmas.’

Once an Ole Miss commit turned Mississippi State, George County’s M.J. Daniels was riding with the Bulldogs right up until the moment he picked up that powder blue hat.

Check out the signing day swag, Daniels saying he had to look good to shock the world. That’s exactly what he did, signing his national letter of intent with the Rebels over both Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

A four-star recruit according to 24/7 Sports, Daniels says Kiffin is recruiting him to play cornerback with the freedom to play safety and even a little offense.

Daniels never actually got the chance to go on an official visit to Oxford, but was in attendance for Ole Miss’ 31-24 Egg Bowl victory.

After last month’s All-American Bowl jersey presentation, Daniels told News 25 that anything could happen and he meant it. “First off, I learned how to build great relationships with people. And when that staff first came in I really wasn’t feeling them, so that’s why I decommited. But they stayed with me, and even when I committed to State, we had a great relationship and they just told me I have to make a grown man decision.”

George County Head Football Coach James Ray said, “The last couple, three years, the players that we’ve had come through here is putting us on a national map and it’s fun to watch as a coach and to be a part of and yeah, when I turned the mic over, I became a fan at that point and not his coach because I was just as anxious to find out as anybody else.”

Daniels graduates high school tomorrow and will be with Ole Miss as early as Monday, practicing with the team ahead of its bowl game. He says he’ll be playing both football and baseball at Ole Miss.

(“Now I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to walk us through this signing day swag.” “Man, because of COVID our prom got canceled last year. So, I had already bought my prom suit and I was like, man, I’m about to flip on this day, I’ve got to look good to shock the world. Oh, you know, we’ve got the bow tie, got to go with the gold and black to represent my school and then the shoes, you’ve got to make sure you get them, got to catch everybody’s attention.”