Frequently, specialists don’t get offers until late in the recruiting process.

So Oxford kicker Jack Tannehill had no reason to think an offer was coming as he boarded a bus to head to a baseball game.

When Oxford football coach Chris Cutcliffe told the rising junior that Ole Miss assistant coach Jacob Peeler was on the phone and wanted to talk to him, Tannehill didn’t know what to think.

Peeler was offering Tannehill a spot in Ole Miss’ 2021 signing class.

“I was just so excited,” Tannehill said.

Tannehill accepted the offer.

“There’s no offer better than an offer from the SEC West,” Tannehill said late last week. “I’ve been here my whole life. It’s a town I know and love. I’ve been an Ole Miss fan all my life. This is a dream come true.”

Tannehill got into kicking as he entered middle school at the suggestion of his father, Rhea Tannehill. Jack Tannehill didn’t play middle school football as a seventh grader, but a strength and conditioning instructor at Oxford Middle School saw him kick a 35-yard field goal.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to play on the middle school team,’” Tannehill said.

So Tannehill started working with former Lafayette High School kicker Ryan Hollins. Several years and countless kicking sessions later, Tannehill has emerged as one of the top kickers in the country.

Last season, Tannehill was 11 for 15 on field goals, hitting a long of 44 yards. He made all 28 extra point attempts.

“I’m confident anywhere inside 55 yards,” Tannehill said. “If I miss from 50-55, I’m not going to get down on myself, but I feel I’m good enough there where those (inside 50 yards) should be gimmes.

“I’m not going to make every field goal but in my mind, I feel like I should make everything inside 50 yards.”

Tannehill said he’s going to take the next two season and focus on height on his kicks and power and hang time on his kickoffs.

He said he’s confident he’s going to be joining a program that has a bright future. He said he can’t wait to be part of it.

“I’d love it,” Tannehill said. “I feel we’re going to be really good.”

Tupelo long-snapper Hayes Hammond committed to Ole Miss earlier this week. Hammond, the son of Tupelo coach Trent Hammond, will be a preferred walk-on in the Rebels' 2020 class. Memphis, Rice and Oklahoma State had also offered preferred walk-on spots to Hammond.