How Ole Miss reloaded for Sugar Bowl berth
OXFORD — In two years, Lane Kiffin has gone from selling blueprints to hosting open houses.
No. 8 Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC) has reached some of the highest heights in program history in its second year under Kiffin. On Sunday, the Rebels accepted a bid into the Sugar Bowl against No. 6 Baylor (11-2, 7-2 Big 12) on New Year's Day (7:45 p.m., ESPN). The game marks Ole Miss' third appearance in a New Year's Six bowl and its first under Kiffin after a five-year drought marred by probation, sanctions, interim coaches and controversy.
The turnaround has been stark. Kiffin can't help but look back and think about what he had to say to recruits two years ago when he got to Oxford compared to what he was saying Sunday instead watching the selection show that announced the Sugar Bowl berth.
"We had to paint a picture saying, 'Here's the house you're going to buy. It's not built yet. But here's a drawing of it,'" Kiffin said. "That's basically saying, 'Hey, we're going to win here, we're going to have this great offense, we're going to be explosive, we're going to get turnovers on defense. It's going to be fun to play here. You're going to watch us on TV and see this style of play.'
"We had to paint that picture because there wasn't proof here of that. They come now and it's like 'OK, they can see the house. If you want to buy it, at least you can walk through it.'"
Kiffin has spent more time thinking about the way the program has turned around than the task ahead of him. He said he hadn't even considered this will be his first New Year's Six bowl as a head coach.
When he does start considering all that, he'll get to start preparing for a familiar foe in Baylor coach Dave Aranda.
This will be the fourth time Kiffin's offense has faced Aranda's defense. The first was 2010 when Southern Cal beat Hawaii 49-36 in Kiffin's first game as USC'S coach and Aranda's first as Hawaii's defensive coordinator. There was Alabama's 35-17 win over Wisconsin in 2015 when the two battled as adversarial coordinators and then another the next year when Alabama topped Aranda's LSU squad 10-0.
Kiffin said he doesn't think that familiarity helps much. Rosters and schemes change over the course of five years. He'll concern himself with attacking Baylor's run defense and stopping its rushing attack over the next month. For now, he's more caught up in continuing to build his program.
He said the contract extension Ole Miss announced Saturday night was in the works for a long time. He said he had to make sure the details benefitted his players' futures, the well-being of his assistant coaches and ensured the Rebels' facilities stayed competitive.
As he enters bowl season, there's a lot to juggle. The early signing period begins in less than two weeks. Coaching changes continue to swirl, and Kiffin said he wouldn't be surprised if he had to replace assistant coaches in the next month.
And then there's the matter of coaching this team one last time, the one led by fifth- and sixth-year seniors, stars from the transfer portal and recordbreaking quarterback Matt Corral. Finishing this season the right way feeds into Kiffin's idea for the future.
"This is what we're trying to do," Kiffin said. "Not just for one year. Not just to have 10 wins and all these accomplishments, but to do this for a long period of time. It takes all those things. You don't continue to win at that level just because you have one year and a hot quarterback. If you're going to do it for a long period of time, especially in the SEC, you have to have all those things in place."