![\"\"](\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/i\/columnists\/full\/olson_max.png&h=80&w=80&scale=crop\"\/)
<\/p>\nMax Olson<\/p>\n
ESPN Staff WriterCovers the Big 12Joined ESPN in 2012Graduate of the University of Nebraska<\/p>\n
Pete Thamel<\/p>\n
Close<\/a> Pete Thamel<\/p>\n Senior College Sports InsiderCollege Football Senior Writer for ESPN. Insider for College Gameday.Jan 6, 2026, 04:22 PM<\/p>\n Ole Miss<\/a> star running back Kewan Lacy<\/a> has signed a deal to return for the Rebels in 2026, sources told ESPN on Monday.<\/p>\n The All-America running back ranks third nationally in rushing yards with 1,464 yards and 23 touchdowns and has helped lead the Rebels to the College Football Playoff semifinals in his debut season.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks Ole Miss secured a commitment from Lacy in its ongoing efforts to retain top returning players amid former coach Lane Kiffin’s departure to LSU<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first-team All-SEC performer was expected to be a priority target for the Tigers if he entered the portal after running backs coach Kevin Smith agreed to join Kiffin in Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n The sophomore running back from Dallas transferred to Ole Miss after a year at Missouri<\/a> and developed into one of the SEC’s top offensive playmakers, surpassing 100 yards from scrimmage in eight games including a career-high 229 yards against Florida.<\/p>\n Lacy rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns in the Rebels’ 39-34 win over No. 3 Georgia<\/a> in the CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. They’ll face No. 10 seed Miami<\/a> in the semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Thursday.<\/p>\n New Ole Miss coach Pete Golding and school officials have secured commitments from a several key starters to remain in the program in 2026 rather than enter the transfer portal after the season.<\/p>\n Ole Miss star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss<\/a> also announced Monday he plans to return pending the approval of an NCAA waiver<\/a> for an additional year of eligibility.<\/p>\n Chambliss was one of seven Rebels players who announced Monday they’ll be back next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Olson Close Max Olson ESPN Staff WriterCovers the Big 12Joined ESPN in 2012Graduate of the University of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-394846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/i\/columnists\/full\/thamel_pete.png&h=80&w=80&scale=crop\"\/)
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