The Southeastern Conference released its Preseason Coaches All-SEC teams on Tuesday with four Ole Miss players and one Mississippi State player making the cut.
Starting with Ole Miss, the consensus among the league’s 16 head coaches was to not include any Rebels on the first team. Cracking the second-team defense was linebacker Suntarine Perkins, who was an All-American in 2024 after compiling 60 total tackles, 10.5 sacks, and one interception.
The Rebels had two third-team selections on the defensive side of the ball, interior lineman Zxavian Harris and Princewill Umanmielen. Harris, a 6-foot-7, 320-pounder, had 31 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and one forced fumble in 2024. Umanmielen, a recent arrival from Nebraska and brother of former Ole Miss and now-Carolina Panthers defensive end Princely Umanmielen, had 13 tackles and half a sack for the Cornhuskers a season ago.
Placekicker Lucas Carneiro was named to the third-team special teams unit. The Western Kentucky transfer was Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year in 2024, knocking in 18 of 19 field goals while going perfect on extra-point attempts.
Mississippi State’s lone selection was defensive back Isaac Smith, the SEC’s leading tackler in 2024, who coaches decided to place on the third team. Smith had 127 total tackles, three passes defended, and one forced fumble last year for the Bulldogs.
Both Ole Miss and Mississippi State kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 30. The Bulldogs will travel to a new-look Southern Miss, a team looking for a turnaround under former Marshall coach Charles Huff. The Rebels will open at home against Georgia State.
