Notes: Ole Miss, Nike agree to 12-year extension

Ole Miss athletic director, Ross Bjork announced Monday that Ole Miss and Nike agreed to a 12-year extension of its current contract to be the official apparel provider for Ole Miss athletics.

“Nike is the best apparel company in the entire country,” Bjork said. “It’s the preferred brand of our student athletes and our coaches.

Nike previously paid Ole Miss $1.9 million annually to be the exclusive provider. The extension will “more than double” the amount paid to Ole Miss annually according to Bjork.

Additionally Ole Miss will no longer have to spend cash for apparel provided by Nike.

“Under the previous agreement…we spent about $775,000 of cash towards product each and every year. Our new agreement actually eliminates the cash-spending portion of our contract.”

It also was announced that Ole Miss will have a $96 million athletic budget for the 2015-2016 academic year.

With that financial growth, Bjork announced a series of improvements to Ole Miss’ athletic facilities.

Bjork said The Pavilion, Ole Miss’ new arena, is on track for its scheduled opening, January 7, 2016. He also announced that Daktronics will provide The Pavilion with the largest center-hung video board in all of college athletics.

Turf changes

The playing surface of the Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium will return to a natural grass surface beginning in 2016. Bjork said field installation would close the stadium for the spring and summer of 2016 and that Ole Miss will not host a spring game in 2016.

“We are on our last leg with that turf,” Bjork said. “We would either replace artificial turf for next season or make the switch to natural grass. We think (switching to natural grass) is the right thing to do for our program on many levels. Natural grass is the preferred playing surface of our players and coaches.”

Game notes

Offensive guard Rod Taylor (labrum) won't play Saturday, Freeze said, adding the sophomore is "close" to returning. Cornerback Carlos Davis (finger) will test his injury in practice this week before a decision is made regarding his availability Saturday. … Defensive back Zedrick Woods and offensive guard Javon Patterson will play Saturday. Fellow freshmen DaMarkus Lodge and Van Jefferson could play, but that decision hasn't been made. ... Ole Miss will again wear the powder-blue helmets against Vanderbilt on September 26.