Lane Kiffin Reveals Current Opt-Out Situation For Ole Miss Football in Gator Bowl

After a few big names announced their intent to play in the Gator Bowl, Lane Kiffin has a feeling more top talent will follow suit.

Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin talks with his coaches during a timeout during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024. The Gators defeated the Rebels 24-17 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun] / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After the Ole Miss Rebels finished the season 9-3, many Rebel fans could have assumed that the top talent on the 2024 football roster would opt out of the Gator Bowl against the Duke Blue Devils.

As of Tuesday, this is not the case, however.

"As of today, we've had conversations with all the guys, and no one has said they're not playing," Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said in a bowl game press conference on Tuesday. "There's still a lot of time between now and the game, but it seems like it's headed in that direction."

This is quite surprising when you think about the the trend that has happened in bowl games in recent years with tons of opt outs giving more opportunities for the future starters to get their feet wet, but this year feels a little bit different with the Rebels chasing another 10-win season.

As Kiffin said, there is still time for some guys to opt-out, but for now, guys like Walter Nolen and Princley Umanmeilen haven't publicly declared for the NFL Draft, even though they are being predicted to potentially go in the first round in April.

This is also another opportunity for players like Jaxson Dart to leave Ole Miss with one more memory and cement his legacy as one of the best Rebel signal callers of all time.

It should be an interesting couple of weeks leading up to bowl season as the portal starts heating up for 2025.