Make A Statement! Lane Kiffin Confident Ole Miss Is 'Just Getting Started'

The Ole Miss Rebels wanted to make one last statement in 2024 before the season ended.

Jan 2, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is givent the Gator Bowl trophy after beating the Duke Blue Devils at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Culture isn't bought. It's built.

It's that very culture set by fifth-year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin that appeared Thursday night at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., as the Rebels picked apart Duke en route to a 52-20 win in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.

Playing past New Year's Day was always the plan for Kififn and the Rebels when fall camp broke. Making one final stop in Jacksonville for a winner-take-all matchup wasn't.

The Rebels (10-3) envisioned a College Football Playoff berth. From a roster perspective, the pieces were there. Headlined by senior quarterback Jaxson Dart and a surging defense, Ole Miss was built to compete for national titles, not bowl ones.

Losses to Kentucky, LSU and Florida kept that dream from becoming a reality. Even with double-digit victories over South Carolina and Georgia, a 9-3 record wasn't sufficient enough to secure one the 12 spots.

“They wanted to send a statement to a lot of people. They felt left out of something and disrespected.”@Lane_Kiffin thanked his players after @OleMissFB’s 52-20 win over Duke. pic.twitter.com/y6ng62Wi7Z

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 3, 2025

But players didn't care when the rankings were revealed. They were locked in for one last game before entering the next stage of their careers.

Kiffin, who secured his third 10-win season in five years, couldn't have been prouder.

"They wanted to send a statement to a lot of people," Kiffin told ESPN following Thursday's win. "They felt left out of something and disrespected, so I think they showed today against a really good team, a nine-win ACC team that I think was the best defense supposedly in the ACC.

"They made a statement."

Maybe the proclaim is stronger than simply a 400-yard passing outing from Dart, who now heads off to represent the Rebels on Sundays. Thursday marked the second-consecutive 10-win season for the Rebels, which was last accomplished in 1959-60.

Jan 2, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is givent the Gator Bowl trophy after beating the Duke Blue Devils at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Since Kiffin's arrival, Ole has won 39 games across the last four seasons, excluding the COVID year. In the four years before Kiffin, the Rebels won 20 games.

The 39 wins is a marker set in program history, pinning Kiffin's name past former greats like Hugh Freeze, Tommy Tuberville, and David Cutcliffe. The Rebels should also finish ranked inside the AP Top 15 and the College Football Playoff rankings for the third time in four years.

One of the best to wear an @OleMissFB uniform.

🎯 Most wins in program history
🎯 Most pass yds in program history
🎯 2nd most TD passes in program history

Jaxson Dart 👏 pic.twitter.com/RuyGpxUprI

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 3, 2025

But while Dart, Jordan Watkins and Walter Nolen are off to the next chapter, the culture presented to them in the transfer portal remains. That will serve as Kiffin's backbone to set a new standard in Oxford beyond 2024.

That doesn't bother Kiffin. He's been though cycles where critical players depart.

"I probably wouldn't have been so confident (saying Ole Miss is just getting started) if we hadn't done some of this before," Kiffin said. "I feel like when (quarterback) Matt Corral left, I feel like a lot of people thought we're going to have this downswing and that was just kind of a Matt Corral thing.

"We were actually a better team as you look at now you’ve got 10 wins and double-digit wins. That doesn’t happen very often with SEC teams and the good bowl teams."