Lane Kiffin commends Ole Miss players for not opting out of bowl game

There were several high-profile players who opted out of bowl games during the 2024 college football season, but the Ole Miss team stayed mostly intact, despite there being plenty of NFL Draft hopefuls.

Jaxson Dart, J.J. Pegues, Jared Ivey, Walter Nolan, Princely Umanmielen and others chose to suit up when Ole Miss faced Duke in the Gator Bowl last week.

After the game, Lane Kiffin praised Rebels players for finishing their career on a high note and playing in the bowl game. Ole Miss dominated the matchup, winning 52-20.

“Yea, I think it was an amazing statement of what they did, because you had some guys that have been here a while, like you mentioned, Ivey and JJ and Jaxson and some others, even [Ulysses] Bentley had talked about preparing for the draft,” Lane Kiffin said.

“But they had been here a while. Then you had newer guys like Walter Nolan, potential first-round pick, Princely, really high pick, that played.”

Ole Miss jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead, and the game was never in doubt. Still, Rebels players continued to play, despite Kiffin trying to convince some to sit out for the second half.

“I met with Walter at the half and said, ‘OK, you should come out now.’ And he still went and played the first couple of series of the second half,” Kiffin said.

All-in-all, Kiffin could not have been more proud of his Ole Miss team for finishing the 2024 season on a high note. The Rebels were disappointed with just missing out on a College Football Playoff spot, but they didn’t quit and instead pounded Duke to reach the 10-win mark.

“I told them last night, you are an old-school football team in that mentality,” Kiffin said. “Like you actually care about your team and your brothers in the locker room and you’re playing for them. And that doesn’t happen very much anymore, unfortunately.”

Ole Miss has now reached the 10-win mark in back-to-back seasons and in three of the past four years. The Rebels beat Penn State in the Peach Bowl in 2023 to finish the year with an 11-2 record.

Ole Miss also won 10 games in 2021, finishing with a 10-3 mark.

Kiffin will look to get his program over the hump and into the CFP next year.