By Angie Ledbetter

Head Ole Miss Football Coach Houston Nutt was excited about the clearing of his final freshman signee Tig Barksdale on Tuesday. Barksdale is a former South Panola standout.

Barksdale was cleared by the NCAA Eligibility Center on Monday afternoon. He spent Tuesday morning getting prepared and was on the field that afternoon, missing only Monday’s practice.

During the press conference at media day on Tuesday morning Nutt talked about Barksdale.

“Tig is here and he is going through physicals, paperwork and getting caught up,” Nutt said. “Hopefully, he’ll be on the field this afternoon. I can’t wait to get him some good structure and good time. He’ll even get some extra time after practice with us. I’m excited about dealing with his life.”

Barksdale will be positioned on the kick return, punt return and safety teams, according to Nutt.

“We really need those numbers in the secondary,” he said. “Our two worry positions, the present depth only, are the offensive line and the secondary. We really need that type of athlete back there. I’m excited about getting him going. I know Coach Dameron is very excited. We’re going to give him a lot of attention here in the next few hours.”

Barksdale was getting his university paperwork cleared and was not present at the media day for interviews.