A few trips to his high school reignited a fire in Lamar alumnus Hayden Farrar, and he used that as motivation to accomplish something special.

Farrar was a standout wide receiver and defensive back for the Raiders before graduating from Lamar in May 2021, and playing football for Ole Miss was a lifelong dream due in part to family history. His grandfather Don Farrar played for the Rebels as a quarterback alongside Archie Manning, and his grandmother Debbie Webb Farrar was a majorette during her time at Ole Miss. 

By the time his freshman year in Oxford rolled around, however, Farrar had mostly given up on the idea of football after high school. This past fall, Farrar watched a few of Lamar’s football games to support his cousin Austin Acton, who currently plays for the Raiders. Watching those games made Farrar want to give football another go, so when Ole Miss had walk-on tryouts this winter, Farrar showcased his skills to the Rebels coaching staff.

On Feb. 24, he read one of the best text messages he ever received: It was from an Ole Miss staff member informing him he made the team.

“Going to Ole Miss games growing up, this was a big dream of mine,” Farrar said. “It really took that whole day for me to grasp what had just happened. I couldn’t really believe it until I got to practice and started doing stuff with the team.”

The journey wasn’t an easy one for Farrar. The COVID-19 pandemic caused most colleges to shut down their summer football camps in 2020, robbing Farrar of an important opportunity to both further his development and showcase his talent.

“That was the summer of my junior year going into my senior year, so I would say that’s the most important year to get into camps and show what you can do,” Farrar explained. “There really wasn’t anything for me to do, so that hurt a lot.”

Once his football career at Lamar ended, Farrar transitioned to Raiders soccer before graduating in the spring of 2021. By that point, Farrar said his interest in football had mostly faded. He started attending Ole Miss last fall, but when he went to Lamar football games on Fridays, Farrar said he knew he wasn’t ready to become a full-time spectator just yet.

“I realized how much I missed it, so I got back in the gym and started working out,” Farrar said.

He also sought the instruction of Cordera Eason, a former Ole Miss football player and an assistant coach for Lamar who also works with athletes privately to improve their skills.

“I had been working with him for about a year but it was kind of just off an on,” Eason said. “I knew he was an athlete, so my main focus was on improving his speed and teaching him body control and how to use his body. He’s a natural athlete — he can jump so high — so when you see that in a kid you know he has it, he just doesn’t know what he’s doing with it yet.”

Eason worked to improve not just Farrar’s speed, balance and body control but also to make sure Farrar had the right mentality before he showed up for walk-on tryouts. Having played for Ole Miss from 2006-10, Eason said the thing that makes players stand out the most at the collegiate level is the mental part of football.

“I told him it was going to take the little things, that he’d have to separate himself some kind of way from those other guys,” Eason said. “I know what they’re looking for because I’ve been through the process.”

Farrar began attending team meetings in January and eventually decided to try out as a wide receiver. The workouts were unlike anything he’d ever experienced with football before, he said.

“The intensity of it (stood out), how much harder you go and how much more grit you have to have to be able to go through everything,” Farrar said. “Cordera gave me a heads up and told me how it was when he was playing, so he helped me tremendously.”

When he woke up the morning of Feb. 24, Farrar checked his phone out of habit and saw the text from the Ole Miss staff member. He hadn’t saved the number in his phone at that point, and he read the text half asleep before realizing what it said.

“I sat straight up and said, ‘There’s no way, someone is messing with me,’” Farrar recalled. “I had to check the number on the Internet to make sure who it was.”

Once he found out it was legit, Farrar said the first person he called was his mom, Francine Farrar.

“She screamed,” Farrar said. “I told her, and she was beyond excited, and then I called and told my dad (Jason Farrar). He thought I was messing with him. I asked them both not to tell anyone all day because I wanted to come home and tell my grandparents.”

Once he did, Farrar said they were just as excited as his parents, and his grandfather was even left speechless. 

“He gave me a big old hug,” Farrar said. “He was just super excited.”

So was Eason, who admitted he cried when talking to Farrar’s mother after he heard the news.

“This is his dream school, so this is a big deal for him and his family,” Eason said. “To see him get this moment, this is what I do it for. It’s not a money or publicity thing. I just want to see these kids get an opportunity.”

Though he’s yet to personally interact with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, Farrar said he’s come to respect Kiffin from afar in the times he’s observed Kiffin at practices.

“His drive for us to be the best we can be really shows how much he cares about the program,” Farrar said.

Ole Miss’ spring practices will conclude with the school’s annual spring game, the Grove Bowl, April 23. Farrar said that exhibition is what has him the most excited, since it’ll be his first chance to dress out in an Ole Miss uniform.

“Even though it’s not an SEC game or (regular) season game, it’ll still be special,” Farrar said.

Eason said Farrar’s potential is high, especially once he goes through the team’s strength and conditioning program and gets SEC-level coaching.

“I talked to a coach about him today,” Eason said Tuesday. “They called me from Ole Miss and said, ‘You weren’t lying about this kid.’ I told them if y’all can teach this kid what he needs to know about the position, he’ll be all right.”