Lane Kiffin pays tribute to late father Monte after Georgia win: 'I know he’s watching and he loved these type of games’

Leaving Sanford Stadium in November 2023 after getting whipped by Georgia, Monte Kiffin had a simple message for his son: You’ll get them next year. And get them Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss team did.

Only Monte, who died this July, wasn’t there to see it in person. But Kiffin certainly felt his father’s spirit on Saturday in Oxford, and made good on the prediction made around a year ago.

“Yeah, I know he’s watching and he loved these type of games and big games,” Kiffin said in his postgame press conference following the 28-10 win. A”nd I thought a lot about him this week and I was like, ‘Man if we win this thing, he’ll be so happy.’ Because he was always like — last year after that he’s like, ‘Hey, we’re going to get this turned around.’ I remember him saying after the game, ‘We’re going to get this thing turned around and you’re going to beat Georgia next year.'”

Kiffin also remarked on how the defensive-first, at times slogging game in the less-than-perfect weather was the sort of performance befitting his late father, who was a legendary defensive coach.

“And it was really kind of, we beat them in his style,” Kiffin said. “Great defense, dominant defensive performance, some kind of mushy offense and field goals and so, that’s — he’s happy about that performance.”

Kiffin picked up a decent bonus on Saturday

And his pocketbook will get fatter, too. With the win, Kiffin is set to pick up another $50,000 in bonus money as the Rebels improved their postseason positioning, according to USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz.

Kiffin is now set for $200,000 in bonuses and a one-year contract extension worth $9 million annually.

And the crowd could hardly wait to get on the field to celebrate the win with Kiffin and the Rebels after the win.

In fact, they jumped the gun.

Before the game could go final, hundreds of fans leapt over the wall and stormed the field, sensing the coming victory against the Bulldogs. Kiffin wasn’t thrilled, voicing some displeasure as he urged fans to return to the sidelines with 16 seconds still left on the clock.

Still, it was a massive victory for Kiffin and his squad, keeping them squarely in College Football Playoff contention as the final month of the season unfolds. And it wasn’t a particularly close game.

Things started off on a sour note for Ole Miss, which saw quarterback Jaxson Dart throw an early interception and then limp off the field hurt. He would later return, but not before Georgia took the lead on the shortened field.

From there it was pretty much all Ole Miss.

Georgia mustered only a field goal the rest of the way, while Dart and company piled on a few scores. By that point, it was pretty much over for the Bulldogs, because they couldn’t figure out the Rebels’ pass rush.

Beck threw one interception while under duress and took five sacks in the contest. Ole Miss edge rusher Princely Umanmielen had a huge night, recording a strip-sack and finishing with two sacks and two tackles for a loss.