Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss QBs getting some virtual assistance

Published Jun. 3, 2015 9:41 p.m. ET

foxsports

Ole Miss isn't so 'ole' when it comes to technology.

According to the Clarion-Ledger, Ole Miss is one of just a few schools that has begun using virtual reality as an add-on to its offseason programs.

Graduate assistant Robert Ratliff reportedly is in charge of implementing the virtual reality, which works as a simulator for the team's quarterbacks. The software allows the Rebels to input their own offensive plays as well as opposing teams' defensive systems, quarterbacks coach Dan Werner told the Clarion-Ledger.

Plays can then be run by the quarterbacks virtually in what Brendan Reilly, the CEO of software producer EON Sports VR, called "a Madden game that's customizable."

Werner has tried the goggles himself and told the Clarion-Ledger, "It really is like you're getting the ball and running a play. ... I think it'll help us a lot, give us an edge."

That would seem to be especially true in terms of repetitions, which are limited to the eight hours a week the NCAA allows for supervised coaching in the summer.

Ole Miss's staff in particular is trying to get its quarterbacks all the reps it can this offseason, as junior-college transfer Chad Kelly and sophomores Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade are competing for the starting job following the graduation of Bo Wallace.

"Our guys are basically getting practice reps with this," Werner told the Clarion-Ledger. "He knows he has to read a free safety on one play, and if he rolls down, you hope his eyes go over here. If we do this 30 times throughout the summer, it's like our quarterbacks almost get 30 extra practices."

Reilly reportedly estimated that Ole Miss paid between $2,000 and $10,000 for its relatively basic version of the virtual reality system.

(h/t The Clarion-Ledger)