For Ole Miss safety Daijahn Anthony, everything is falling into place. He is coming off a 2023 season with three pressures, one sack, three interceptions, 61 tackles, a touchdown and a very impressive forced fumble. But it wasn’t always a sure thing and the path hasn’t been easy. Sitting down with him at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas, Anthony shared his story, the ups and downs, and his current path to realizing his dreams of playing in the SEC and eventually, the NFL during an interview with Steelers Depot at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
From his childhood in Richmond, Virginia, he earned a scholarship to play Division II NCAA football at nearby Shepherd University. In his own words, he “got in a little trouble”, a phrase that is normally a red flag. But in Anthony’s case, it was a simple case of a deficit in high school credits and a unauthorized birthday gathering. He ended up transferring to Liberty University as a walk-on. By the first day of spring ball he had two interceptions and a new scholarship. When I asked about the timing, he told me, “I would honestly say sometimes it’s God’s timing and God’s timing is never wrong. So I needed to go in there and show why I really should be a DI scholarship athlete and I kind of just worked their way.” After two successful seasons with the Liberty Flames, he felt it was time for a new challenge.
He names three contributing factors in that decision. First, he wanted a stronger base for playing the Power 5 schools that were already on their schedule and he wanted to face a tougher strength of schedule to showcase his skills on a weekly basis. His second reason was about timing and the departure of head coach Freeze and the people who had contributed to his success.
As for the final reason, he explained. “I always had a dream of playing in the SEC, like I always wanted to play like against Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, those type of guys. And it is just a different type of atmosphere, like you’re playing in front of 60 plus thousand every single week.” While one childhood dream was playing in the NFL, playing in the SEC came first.
Anthony believes nothing could have prepared him for the jump to the NFL better. Making the move from cornerback to safety enhanced his versatility. He related that he “played both nickel and strong safety, and it took my game to another level. They helped me learn the game of football and developed me to this type of player where I could go run a whole defense.” That coaching paid off, as Anthony produced an interception in his first game with Ole Miss.
It wouldn’t be his only turnover for the season. One of his favorite performances came in a win against LSU. While he critiques his play for a mistake that resulted in the only touchdown he gave up all season, he relished the forced fumble on a Heisman winner that changed the momentum of the game.
He also takes pride in his tackling, especially his career high of 15 against rival Mississippi State. And despite a respectable missed tackle rate of 10.3% on the year, he sees that as an area where he wants to improve at the next level and believes that he can. “I try to hold myself to perfection because to get to the NFL, you have to be close to perfection. My passion for the game is the want to, and I want to do everything to win. I love football a lot and I put my all into football.”
As far as NFL players that he watches, he lists Jaire Alexander, Jaylen Ramsey, Jaycee Horn and Sauce Gardner. And when asked what he hopes to get from his week at the Shrine Bowl, he replied “just maximize my full potential and learn from these NFL coaches because they’re taking time out. They could be home after the season with their family and kids and they’re here coaching us. So just being a sponge, soaking in all this information from these coaches and getting to learn all these new players from different schools and just learn their techniques.” Even on the first day of practice at the Shrine Bowl, Anthony was vocal on the field and on the sideline, as you can see on the left of the screen:
As he tells it, that is his playing mode. He wants to use his vision as a safety to be the quarterback of the defense. And while he doesn’t really talk smack with opposing players, he will let them know he’s going to make plays and they will need to know where he is at all times. On the subject of talking, I asked if he had spoken to the Steelers team staff and he had. With his position versatility, communication skills, and reliable tackling, it would be easy to see a place for Anthony in Pittsburgh. From here, his next stop is the NFL Combine. After all that Daijahn Anthony has learned and accomplished, he is just getting started.
