Omarr Conner (Noxubee County HS, 6-foot-1, 205)
"He is an incredible player. His attitude has been outstanding. I coached Tupelo when we had Jerious Jackson and I'm not sure if Omarr is not better than Jerious was. Jerious went to Notre Dame. (Omarr) has just amazed us this week in practice, not only with his feet but with his arm. He is a special, special guy."
I heard at the mini-camp that he had trouble with the under center snap because he had always played in the shotgun. How's that coming along?
"He has adjusted to that. When you take a guy that has taken shotgun snaps his entire career then try to put him under center, you are going to that problem. We'll still drop one every now and then, but we are working hard to eliminate those."
When you got here, did you adjust your gameplan to him and Akeem or did you have it in place no matter who the quarterback was?
"We knew what we were getting and both of those guys really fit what we are trying to do. We are really trying to move those guys around and let them get on the edges. We are running three or four different options. Both of them can throw the football. They are both great weapons for us to have."
Akeem Lofton (Wayne County HS, 5-foot-10, 175)
"I didn't know much about him because he was on the coast (of Mississippi). We are very much in the northern part of the state (in Olive Branch). He is another great kid, great attitude. It is very easy for him to pick up on things. I was very surprised with his arm strength. He really throws the ball well. I knew he was a great runner after seeing him play in the state championship game. He may be one of our most versatile players. We are going to play him at corner, wide receiver, tailback and quarterback some. He can play a lot of different places."
Will Omarr and Akeem share time equally during the game?
"To be honest, we really haven't talked about how we are going to alternate them. Probably so, but we really haven't sat down and decided that. Omarr will be our starter. I think that is pretty much a done deal. I don't know how much we will use Akeem. But, he will be on the field somewhere. He is that good of a player."
Gene Swindoll is the owner of Gene's Page (http://mississippistate.theinsiders.com), the unofficial source for Mississippi State sports and Mississippi high school sports on the internet. You can contact him by email at swindoll@genespage.com.