Kiffin is challenging Ole Miss fans before game
OXFORD — Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t just want fans to fill up Vaught-hemingway Stadium. He wants them to affect the game.
No. 10 Ole Miss reported an attendance of 64,425 in the Rebels’ 29-19 win over Texas A&M. It was the seventhlargest crowd in Vaught-hemingway Stadium history and the second sellout of the season. But Kiffin wants more.
“I mean this as a challenge to our fans that Texas A&M didn’t use a silent count,” Kiffin said Wednesday. “Which is pretty unheard of in this conference to go on the road and use a verbal count. It should be a challenge to our fans to cheer louder. It’s Senior Day. It’s probably the quarterback’s last day. Hopefully we show up.”
The Rebels (8-2, 4-2 SEC) play their final home game of the 2021 season on Saturday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) against Vanderbilt (2-8, 0-6) . Ole Miss is doing what it can to get fans in seats for this one, including offering discounted ticket prices and bundles that include tickets for home basketball games along with a Vanderbilt ticket.
As Kiffin sees it, filling up the stadium isn’t just about influencing the other team or hyping up the players. It’s also about giving off the right impression to recruits in the stands, watching on TV or even just considering the Rebels as an option.
“It’s probably hard for fans to understand that,” Kiffin said. “It’s not just for your current players obviously, like this one is senior day and not seeing empty seats. But for recruits. People recruit against you. That’s recruiting. They show pictures of your stadium if it’s a big game and not full. They use that against you. It’s very important for stadiums to be full, especially when you’re in the SEC trying to recruit and play at a high level.”
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.