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‘NIL is what kids choose,’ so Ole Miss football has had to adjust bold plans to upgrade facilities

Ben Garrettby:Ben Garrett•06/02/23•

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Ole Miss went bold when rolling out its CHAMPIONS. NOW. capital campaign two years ago. 

Among the big-ticket agenda items was a promised, major facelift to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium — the home of Ole Miss football.

Those plans have been put on ice. 

Now-fourth-year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was one of the fiercest proponents of the decision to pivot. Why? Because NIL (name, image and likeness) has completely taken over college football.

Just this week, NIL dominated a lot of the conversation during the SEC Meetings in Destin. The price to acquire the best talent, especially through the still-somewhat-fresh NCAA Transfer Portal, has never been higher. 

So, The Vaught will stay as-is for … well, indefinitely.

“I know it’s not exactly what an athletics director likes to hear necessarily,” Kiffin told gathered media on Tuesday. “But NIL is what kids choose. They don’t choose the size of the weight room or whether they have a personalized computer in their locker. That’s changed over the last few years. 

“You can’t fault them. You’ve got 17, 18-year-old kids or families (and) a lot of times that don’t have very much financial resources. Here’s the chance to get paid. For people that say it’s ridiculous for them to choose where to play football or get their degree based off of what they get paid, that’s not very realistic.”

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The renovated Manning Center opens July 15

Not to say NIL is gobbling up every single cent of athletics budgets across the country. 

Ole Miss, for example, will re-open the doors to its dramatically-overhauled Manning Center — the program’s indoor practice facility — on July 15.

Actually, athletics director Keith Carter recently told the Ole Miss Spirit the school is already in the process of moving the players and coaches back over. The coaches had been working for over a year in the Ole Miss Sports Information building, which is located adjacent to the east side of the stadium.

“(The Manning Center) will be on par with any facility in our league,” Carter said.

Sure, facilities might not carry the same weight with recruits as they used to, however, they still matter, and Ole Miss will soon be able to lay claim to one of the best indoors in the country.

Among the new amenities is a two-story, state-of-the-art weight room. The Rebels were previously working with one of the smallest and most outdated in the conference. Additional ammenities include hydrotherapy, training, sports meds, administrative and team meeting rooms, a renovated locker room, player lounge, equipment room and plunge pools.

“That’s the signature,” Carter said of the weight room. “It’s going to be really, really nice. Much bigger, a lot of natural light in there (and) two stories. It’s going to be really, really cool. That’s probably the spot where they’re going to start when they bring recruits in. 

“But new locker room, new training room and all kinds of bells and whistles for when the recruits come in and they want to put the gear on to take pictures and do all those things. A lot of state-of-the-art technology in there, too. 

“It’s going to be really nice and something our team and players deserve.”

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