ShakeUp On Staff

There was a shakeup on the Ole Miss coaching staff this afternoon. Louis Campbell who was reported to be coming to Oxford with the other members of the Arkansas staff will now be going to Mississippi State. In return the Rebels will hire Derrick Nix, brother of current defensive coordinatore Tyrone Nix.

This through a curveball to many Rebel followers. Many believe that Campbell should have made this decision at an earlier date. With Campbell waiting may have cost Tony Hughes his job at Ole Miss. No one will know if Hughes would have been offered Campbells position, but many saw Hughes as the connection to several high profile Mississippi recruits.

All in all not many Rebel fans happy with Louis Campbell.


OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss head football coach Houston Nutt announced here Wednesday that former Southern Miss player and assistant coach Derrick Nix is the latest addition to the Rebel football staff. The appointment is pending approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.

Nix is reunited with his brother, Tyrone, whom Nutt hired as defensive coordinator on Dec. 11. Derrick Nix spent 2007 in the NFL as offensive assistant and quality control coach for Bobby Petrino’s Atlanta Falcons.

“Derrick Nix is a quality coach who knows the state of Mississippi,” Nutt said. “It is exciting to add a coach to our staff that has experience coaching NFL running backs.”

Nix, one of the best-known players to ever wear a Golden Eagle uniform, began his four-year stint on the USM sidelines as a defensive graduate assistant in 2003. The following year, Nix was promoted to tight ends coach before being appointed to the running backs coaching position, where he spent two years.

In 2006 under Nix's direction, the Southern Miss running backs ran for 2,378 yards and scored 23 touchdowns, the first time the Golden Eagles ran for over 2,000 yards since 1987. True freshman Damion Fletcher, who earned first-team All-Conference USA honors and freshman All-American honors, ran for 1,388 yards and scored 11 touchdowns, the second most yards in a season in school history.
Nix's career achievements at Southern Miss also included being the C-USA Freshman of the Year and a first team Freshman All-America in 1998.

A sprained ankle, along with the kidney problem, forced Nix to sit out a year and a half, before returning for a successful senior season. He was invited to participate in the 2003 Senior Bowl.

A native of Attalla, Ala., Nix, 27, is a 2002 Southern Miss graduate with a bachelor's degree in sport administration.

It was also announced Wednesday that Louis Campbell will not be a part of Nutt’s first Ole Miss coaching staff.