The past eight months have been anything but quiet for Jeremiah Masoli.

He lead the University of Oregon to a Rose Bowl, pleaded guilty to burglary, was charged for possession of marijuana and kicked off the Ducks football team. Just weeks ago it looked like the book on his football career had been closed.

But now he is getting a second chance.

Masoli announced on his website Sunday that the University of Mississippi has accepted his application for graduate school in the Parks and Recreation program.

More importantly head football coach Houston Nutt has invited the banished quarterback to walk on to the Rebel football team.

At this point you have to be thinking is Coach Nutt crazy?

The answer is no. This is exactly what the Rebel football program needs.

With former starting quarterback Jevan Snead now in the NFL, Ole Miss is severely lacking at the helm. The two scholarship quarterbacks currently on the Rebel roster are Nathan Stanley who has thrown only 23 passes in his career and junior college transfer Randall Mackey who has never played in a Division 1 football game.

Ole Miss has nothing to lose with giving Masoli a second chance. If he succeeds then Coach Nutt looks like a genius and the Ole Miss football program is back in the national spotlight. If Masoli runs into trouble with the law again, then the Rebels look honorable for giving the kid a second chance.

Besides the San Francisco native will almost certainly help the Rebels this season after passing for 3,891 yards and rushing for 1,386 yards during his two years at Oregon. Remember this is still the same quarterback that was in the running for the Heisman Trophy last year and he is only a junior.

Even though Nutt has only lost four times as head coach this is now the second time that he has tested the dangerous waters of giving a troubled kid a second chance.

Just last year former Florida Gator safety Jamar Hornsby was signed to play despite having a long history of legal issues. Nutt ended up kicking Hornsby off the team after he was arrested and charged with assaulting a man.

While Nutt is still in good standing with university officials, another legal issue could certainly put his coaching status in jeopardy. That is why Masoli’s success will determine not only his own future but now his head coach’s as well.