Bolden passes on NFL for one more year in Oxford

Following a stellar junior year on the gridiron, Ole Miss running back Brandon Bolden did the responsible thing and looked into his NFL Draft prospects.

After Bolden received an evaluation of his draft stock from the League, the Louisiana native found he was a wanted man by NFL front offices. The punishing runner received a late second round/early third round prediction, meaning he would be in for quite a payday if he decided to enter April’s NFL Draft.

Bolden weighed his options with his father and teammates Kentrell Lockett and Korvic Neat. In the end, though, he made the decision to spend one more year hurdling defenders inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

“Really, with the whole decision thing, I went home talked to my parents and the deal was I’m just going to see what the NFL said,” Bolden said. “It wasn’t anything definite if I was going to go or not. I was trying to see. I was just being nosy — kind of curious. When I got the feedback, I just said I’ll go back to school anyway. The plan was to never to leave Ole Miss.”

Back in Oxford, Bolden finds himself a veteran on a Rebel squad still recovering from a disappointing 4-8 season.

Because of last year’s poor mark, Bolden — along with the rest of his teammates — also finds himself as a participant in a strenuous offseason instituted by coach Houston Nutt.

Accountability has been preached by Nutt and his staff, but there’s also been other, more tangible, motivation for Bolden and the Rebs.

Records hang on the walls of the Ole Miss Indoor Practice Facility, which serve as a daily reminder of who’s the current weight room kingpin — a competition fueled by word of mouth in seasons past. Bolden said the Rebels have responded.

Those records have fallen daily, only to be replaced by better marks.

“It’s a, ‘I’m going to get you tomorrow’ type deal,” Bolden said. “Everyone is feeding off of each other, like if you set the bar high, we’re going to try to get that bar down and set up a new one.”

Bolden is expected to carry the load of the offense when Ole Miss welcomes BYU to town on Sept. 3 in the Rebels’ season opener — and for good reason. Last year, the all-purpose back rushed for 976 yards and scored 17 total touchdowns to bounce back from a sophomore slump.

Bolden worked to become sleeker before last year — read: faster and quicker — and learned to waiver less when hitting holes in opponent’s defensive lines. This spring Bolden has challenged himself to improve other small areas of his game thanks to advice from his NFL evaluation — speed and running vision, to name a few.  

But Bolden’s offseason goals aren’t limited to on-the-field improvement. Bolden said he’s never been a “rah-rah” guy in terms of leadership. Instead, he’s let his on-the-field performances do the talking. However, this year he plans to increase his presence as a vocal leader for the Rebels.

“I’m still working on that vocal part because I’m not a very vocal person,” Bolden said. “I was always taught to lead by example and keep your mouth shut. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.

“(Strength and conditioning) coach (Don) Decker actually told me today I did a real good job. There were a couple of guys testing on the deck today and I went around yelling at people and everybody thought it was funny, but it seemed to help a few people.”

Bolden will get a chance to show off his new vocal leadership when Ole Miss begins spring practice on March 28. Then, the Rebels officially start their road to redemption, something Bolden passed on the NFL to be a part of it.