Even as he battled an injury to his throwing shoulder throughout spring practice, Raymond Cotton exited the sessions just slightly behind Nathan Stanley but still with a shot to win Ole Miss’ starting quarterback job come the summer.
With summer camp on the brink of commencing, however, Cotton is considering high-tailing it out of Oxford.
During the SEC Media Days Thursday, head coach Houston Nutt revealed that Cotton is considering transferring from the school, with playing time apparently being one of the main issues for the redshirt freshman. If that is indeed Cotton’s line of thinking, it doesn’t make sense to his head coach.
“You could see in the spring game he was better than Nathan,” Nutt said of Cotton’s 7-for-9 performance. “I just don’t understand it. I was planning a big role for him, and he seemed to be happy.”
Nutt most certainly wants to keep Cotton on a depth chart that’s pencil-thin at the position, and he has an ace in the hole in making that happen -- the player’s parents.
“They’re really upset, and they think him leaving would be a terrible mistake.”
While Cotton is far from a seasoned vet, his departure would leave a gaping hole at the quarterback position. Stanley, who will enter summer camp as the starter regardless of what happens to Cotton, has played in just five games at the collegiate level, and JUCO transfer Randall Mackey just became a part of the program this summer.