Ole Miss Rebels Football Coaching Staff Gains Mental Health First Aid Certification

The Rebels coaching staff is now equipped to handle mental health first aid.

OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels coaching staff may be equipped to deal with football strategies, but they are now certified to help with athlete mental health as well.

The program recently announced that its entire football coaching staff became Mental Health First Aid certified, and the rest of the staff is nearing completion on the course, according to assistant athletics director for sport psychology Josie Nicholson who recently spoke with Michael Katz of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

“They believe in it. Lane (Kiffin) is very committed to the overall wellness of the athlete and cares, but also recognizes that he is not somebody that is trained to address mental health issues,” Nicholson said. “… He is going to do what he can, for him and his staff, to have the best possible resources for our athletes.”

According to Nicholson, who teaches the course, the goal is to have the entire athletic department certified by the end of the year. The football, women's basketball and women's golf staffs have already completed the training, according to the story. 

“The culture starts with (the coaches)," Nicholson said. "We do a lot of ‘It’s OK to not be OK’ kind of campaign, but we don’t do a lot of ‘And if you’re not OK, here’s what to do.’ So, being able to have coaching be a resource and believe in it (is huge). When your coach believes that your mental health is important, it’s more likely that the athlete is going to believe and take care of their mental health. Because it decreases, wildly decreases, the stigma of reaching out for help and getting mental health support.”

---

You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Rebels? Click Here.

Follow The Grove Report On Facebook and Twitter.

Want even more Ole Miss Rebels News? Check out the SI.com team page here.