By Billy Watkins
Let’s fast forward to later in the life of Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, after college and after football.
This is his plan: “I want to go back home to Hawaii. Surf. Maybe become an underwater photographer. I just want to have a relaxing life when all the the football is over.
“I used to be at the beach every day. Learned to surf when I was probably in the sixth grade. The energy you get from the water … it’s so great.”
For the time being, however, his plan is to do his job on every play and trust that the other 10 on the field will do the same. That’s the offense’s motto entering Saturday’s 2:30 p.m.game against LSU in Oxford. LSU is ranked No. 4 nationally. Ole Miss is at No. 11.
Stribling has caught nine passes for 132 yards (14.7 yards per reception) and one touchdown during the Rebels’ 4-0 start. One of his strong points isn’t on the stat sheet. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, he blocks. And blocks. And blocks some more — a duty that many receivers ignore.
Head coach Lane Kiffin pointed that out in an interview Sunday night with the beat reporters in Oxford.
“Kind of (former Ole Miss WR Jonathan) Mingo-ish,” Kiffin said. “Lot of similarities there, like how Mingo would block so well and be so physical. We have a touchdown run and (Stribling) is finishing the guy like eight yards in the end zone. It’s awesome to see. Really a complete team player.”
Stribling couldn’t understand why someone is praised for simply doing what is asked of him.
“If there is a job to do, just do it,” Stribling said. “We practice blocking a good amount, I’d say. But I feel like a lot of it is effort. If you give effort and go in there with the right mindset, it makes it easier.
“I just try to keep my hands inside and take the space out (between him and the receiver.) If I feel like I’m losing him a little bit, I’ll let go. It’s just not worth the penalty yards.”
That’s not normal in the “me:” world that is college football today. It didn’t take long into our interview to realize that Stribling is a different dude.
In 2024, he was in his second season at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys won their first three games, then lost nine straight. “That had to be tough,” I said to him.
“It was a little hard for sure,” he responded, “ but there were a lot of learning points and growth through that process, so I’m thankful for the adversity I faced last year.
“It’s all about how you look at it. I could have looked at it like ‘We’re losing all these games. Life is horrible. What am I going to do?’ But I looked at it like, ‘I’m thankful to be playing the game I love with opportunities to go out there and make more plays.’ Things didn’t work out the best, but I had a lot of chances to get better and learn. Nothing ever lasts forever. The pain of losing, that didn’t last forever. It’s all about how you treat it.”
He led Oklahoma State in receiving during that 3-9 season with 52 catches for 882 yards and six touchdowns.
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Stribling grew up in the city of Kapolei (pop. 23,000) and played high school football there. The sport in Hawaii is “everything. It’s major,” he said.
“When I was there, most kids grew up watching the Pac-12, teams like USC and Oregon. Most of the boys wanted to play college ball out west because it was so much closer to home.”
During his middle and high school years, Stribling began following Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was from Ewa Beach, Hawaii. That was Stribling’s introduction to the SEC.
He originally signed with Washington State, where he redshirted and and played one season. He then signed with Oklahoma State out of the transfer portal. His first year in Stillwater, he suffered a broken wrist early in the season during a bye week. “Went up to catch a high ball in practice, came down and tried to brace myself with my hands. And, of course, that’s a big no-no,” he said.
If not for that injury, Stribling probably would have never found his way to Oxford.
“It’s God. It’s all God’s timing,” he said.
When he entered the portal after the 2024 season, he was contacted by numerous schools. Stribling said it this way: “I was very blessed to have the opportunity to choose wherever I wanted to go.”
He picked Ole Miss because of Kiffin’s offense and the Rebels’ winning ways in recent years. “Being able to make big plays and win at a high level. That’s what it came down to.
“Plus, I knew (offensive lineman ) Julius Buelow from Hawaii, He was at Ole Miss last year. I talked to him. It sounded great, sounded like a place to be. Now that I’m here living it, it really is.”
He credits Kiffin with “making football fun.”
“ He’s a very unique person,” Stribling said. “ Honestly, he really is one of one. I don’t know anybody else like him. We don’t have people showing up with a bad attitude. The facility has a happy vibe to it. Everyone wants to show up every day.”
And that, he said, is how all these transfers on offense have meshed together quickly.
“It’s all about believing,” he said., “and we really believe in what we do here and we believe in the big goal. We know everybody has their individual goals, too., But when you have extreme faith and you give extreme effort, great things are going to happen. We preach that a lot. Do your job and everything else will take care of itself.”
I brought up the his physical approach to the game once more and asked him about bulldozing over a Tulane cornerback after a reception last Saturday.
“I love to be physical out there, run as hard as I can for every yard,” he said. “I feel like it’s part of the game.”
Another question: Does he know anything about another former Rebel, before Kiffin arrived, who also wore No. 1 and believed in being a physical receiver — Laquon Treadwell.
“Oh, I heard a lot about him when I got here,” he said. “I watched a lot of his highlights and I actually got to train with him a couple of years ago in Dallas. I didn’t know too much about him at the time. I was at Oklahoma State and I never would have thought I’d be wearing his number at his former school. But it’s pretty cool.”
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Instead of flying back and forth for Stribling’s games, his parents and an aunt are living with him in Oxford.
“It makes it easier. Plus, I come home to some good food every night,” he said, laughing. “That’s always refreshing.”
Throughout our interview, I wondered how he became so adept at speaking and communicating. He speaks like someone much older than his 22 years.
He explained: “My dad (Karlos) spent 17 years in the Marines, and my mom (Aisha) has a really good job as an accountant. Public speaking and having professional conversations was something that was brought up to me a lot, like ‘This is something you need to learn how to do in life.’ ”
He and the family have found a bit of Hawaii in Oxford.
“Everybody says ‘hi’ to everybody else,” he said. “I like that.”
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