Ole Miss Football: 10 best players during the Hugh Feeze era

OXFORD, MS - NOVEMBER 19: Donte Moncrief #12 of the Ole Miss Rebels runs against Tahj Jones #58 and Tharold Simon #24 of the LSU Tigers on November 19, 2011 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. LSU beat Mississippi 52-3. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /

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OXFORD, MS – OCTOBER 01: Tony Conner #12 of the Mississippi Rebels celebrates a tackle during the first half of a game against the Memphis Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

The “Landshark Defense” was largely anchored by a secondary that safety Tony Conner was a huge part of. The combination of Trae Elston, Tony Bridges, Senquez Golson, etc. along with Conner formed a rock solid secondary for a number of years.

Conner played an integral role in the success of Ole Miss’s defense, the thing that Freeze tried to build the team around. The original foundation that Freeze tried to build with the Rebels was built around the defense, hence the “Landshark Defense”.

Unlike other defensive players that Freeze recruited like Robert Nkemdiche and Denzel Nkemdiche, Conner lived up to the hype in every way. However, the only way that Conner will continue to have a future in football is by making it through mini camp in 2018 or getting signed to a practice squad and working his way up with an NFL team.

According to SEC Country, the 49ers invited Conner to mini camp and eventually got a jersey number with the team.

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