OXFORD — Kermit Davis was coaching from his house, yelling at a Zoom call, coaching via a cell phone and driving his wife crazy.

“Betty and Ally (his daughter) were effected more than I was,” Davis said. “God dang, they were so glad I was leaving. I don’t recommend watching Zoom practices from home.”

Davis said he had staff member Connor Walsh on the phone.

“I’d call Connor and say, ‘Get Jarkel (Joiner) over here right now. Get Devantae (Shuler) over here right now,’” Davis said. “Finally, I hear (Betty) hollering up the stairs, ‘Would you please turn it off? Turn it off.’ I think she thought I was going to jump out the window. It was kind of frustrating kind of being out of control of the situation.”

Davis tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 17. The plan was for him to miss the first two games of Ole Miss’ season while assistant coach Ronnie Hamilton filled in. Even after two players tested positive and others were ruled out due to contact tracing and Shon Robinson suffered a concussion, that plan remained intact.

Then Hamilton tested positive, forcing the Rebels to shut the program down for 14 days.

During that time, Davis, now immune after having recovered from the virus, worked players out individually in 45-minute sessions.

“I felt like I was back doing Dixie Basketball Camp back in the South,” Davis said. “I was doing nine or 10 individual workouts from Tuesday all the way to Sunday. At least that was good that I got my hands on them. It was just me and the player.”

Ole Miss will open its season Thursday at 7 p.m. against Jackson State at The Pavilion, the first of three games in five days. The Rebels are the final Power-5 team to start the season. They’ll play UNC-Wilmington on Saturday and Central Arkansas on Monday.

“Twenty-one days of me not coaching our team is 21 days,” Davis said. “At this time of year, you’re trying to open up. You’re trying to play. So there’s a lot of different things we’re trying to go through. …Their energy levels are good. They’re just excited to play. That’s the biggest thing. I’m excited for them that they get to play a game, knock on wood. They’ve worked extremely hard.”

Davis said the Rebels “need to play,” adding he believes the strength of this Ole Miss team is depth, something that will help them early as they play their way into game shape.

“We had to fit these games in a tight window and our guys just need to play,” Davis said. “We’re just going to have to play through some things kind of on the run and that’s just where it is. But other college teams are doing that as well.”