Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin on Sugar Bowl: “One of the biggest bowls in the world.”
The drama may have been taken out of the process on the night before with Saturday’s results in the conference championships, but the excitement was still there when Ole Miss found out they were returning to the Sugar Bowl for the first time since 2016.
For head coach Lane Kiffin, it is proof in the pudding that what he and his staff have done in their first two seasons in Oxford is working.
A program that was 4-8 in 2019 is now ranked No. 8 in the country and playing in a New Year’s Six bowl two years later.
“It’s to me what, I feel like, is every (kid’s dream) when they come up living in the SEC areas, is to play in the Sugar Bowl,” Kiffin said during a teleconference on Sunday. “To think that we got here two years ago (and) to think that we’d be in the Sugar Bowl this quickly is perspective of how awesome it is.”
The feeling of going to the Sugar Bowl for the first time as a head coach has not fully hit Kiffin, who admitted he has been busy spending the weekend recruiting with National Signing Day 10 days away.
This is not the first Sugar Bowl of Kiffin’s coaching career, though. He did stand on the sideline in the 2015 Sugar Bowl as Alabama’s offensive coordinator against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Kiffin admitted he has not even thought about the fact his roster of players will be playing in their first Sugar Bowl.
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“I haven’t processed the meaning of that,” Kiffin said. “I haven’t even thought about having been there before and the players not having been there. So, I’ll figure that out.”
Of course as is the case in this college football climate, there is the possibility of players opting out of the bowl game.
Most of the time it is to begin preparations for the upcoming NFL Draft. Kiffin and his staff was hit with that last season when Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah opted out of playing in the Outback Bowl.
Quarterback Matt Corral stated after the Egg Bowl last month that he intends to play if he is healthy. During Sunday’s teleconference, Kiffin echoed the sentiment that his quarterback will be on the field come New Year’s night and that it would be Corral’s swan song.
“Couldn’t pick a better bowl to be in and one that I would certainly think our fans will travel to,” Kiffin said. “Much like I said at the end of the (regular) season, ‘Come support the team. It’s your last chance to see them together and to see Matt. Now you got one more chance to do it in one of the biggest bowls in the world.’”
No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 7 Baylor will play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 at 7:45 p.m. CT.
