How shifty, quick Parrish fits into Ole Miss
OXFORD — Henry Parrish wanted to play for his “dude.”
Parrish was one of the few freshmen to produce for Ole Miss in 2020. The Miami native carried 56 times for 263 yards and two touchdowns. All but three of those yards and both of his touchdowns came in the last five games of the year, when Parrish averaged 63.8 yards of total offense and 5.1 yards per touch.
Parrish's late-season emergence, along with the returns of juniors Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner, makes Ole Miss' backfield one of the most dangerous in the SEC. All because Lane Kiffin came to Oxford from FAU.
“Wherever coach Kiffin was going, I was going,” Parrish said. “That's the dude. Everybody likes coach Kiffin. He's not like other coaches. He's himself. Everybody thinks he's weird and all that. But he's good. He's a good coach. Very
chill.”
Before Kiffin was hired at Ole Miss, Parrish was committed to play at Pittsburgh. Four days after Kiffin was hired, Parrish decommitted. His last official visit that fall had been to FAU with Kiffin and running backs coach Kevin Smith, who Kiffin brought with him to Oxford.
Less than a month later, Parrish committed as the Rebels' highest-rated offensive player in the Class of 2020 per the 247 Sports Composite rankings. And after battling through a few injuries early in his freshman year, Parrish showed that potential late in the year.
Parrish accounted for 109 total yards and two touchdowns in the regular season finale against LSU, then followed that with 82 total yards in the Outback Bowl win over Indiana. Parrish says the big lesson he learned from his freshman year was letting the game come to him.
“I remember when I was in high school I was going so fast,” Parrish said. “When I got to college it slowed down. Coach Smith, he talks about tempo all the time. That's our main key. Just play ball. Show your ability. Put it on tape.”
Parrish is a multi-dimensional player in a multi-dimensional Rebels backfield. Ealy is a one-cut speed back with great hands who can stretch the field as a receiver as well as he can out of the backfield. Conner is a power back who can bruise defenses in the middle. And Parrish, as he describes himself, is the one with quick feet, the twitchy one, the shifty, make-defenders-miss back.
Like Ealy, Parrish expects to get some reps from the slotl. He thinks that's a reflection of how athletic the running back and receiver rooms are. Ole Miss' motto is to “score from far” and Parrish thinks having players like he and Ealy who can do that from anywhere in the formation make that possible.
“I think Henry's a special player with a very high ceiling,” Kiffin said. “He was a skinny kid when he came in here.”
Ole Miss led the SEC in rushing offense last year, and the Rebels' yards per carry actually went up in the last five games when Parrish emerged but Ealy was dealing with injuries. Having a full year of both players plus Conner could create one of the best rushing attacks in the country, regardless of the hype surrounding preseason ALL-SEC quarterback Matt Corral and the passing game.