Lane Kiffin understands what it means to have the Egg Bowl Trophy back in Oxford
OXFORD, Miss. — There can be no doubt Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin knows how much it means to Rebels to have the Egg Bowl Trophy residing in Oxford, especially after having lost it last year and watching as it spent the year in Starkville.
Kiffin was 2-0 in the Egg Bowl heading into last year’s home game, but the Rebels lost, 22-20, and it has stuck in the craw of fans, players — and Kiffin — since then.
The head coach says he heard Egg Bowl stories earlier this week when legendary QB Eli Manning was in town and has heard from long-time staff members like Tom Luke about the significance of the trophy.
“Just being around it, not even the actual game itself. The stories of Eli Manning being around and talking to the team this week and Tom Luke, and so the passion of those guys… Just even today I was reading a book on the long bus ride on some of the historic games over here. I think that gave me more appreciation for it. We don’t have this 90-percent Mississippi team. I don’t even know what the percentage is but it’s not really high. For me too, I just had to be in it and then I think it’s what happens in life, unfortunately. Sometimes you got to lose things in life and then you start to appreciate them more. Okay, so we got it (Egg Bowl Trophy) in the first year, it was Covid, that was cool. (It was sorta like) ‘Hey we’re just going to get it every year.’ And then all of a sudden, we get it again but then we lose it. It was like, ‘whoa, we really lost this thing?’”
Lane Kiffin
He also heard about it from fans during this year’s Rebel Road Trip.
“And then I got to see how mad our fans were, we do the photo things on the Rebel Road Trip and then we’ve got no trophy to take a picture with. ‘Get that Egg Bowl Trophy back, Coach.’ So, okay. I heard a lot of that. We got it back, so we’ll have a better Rebel Road trip this year. More pictures.”
Lane Kiffin, smiling after the game and talking about the Egg Bowl Trophy
“We are never ever giving you back.” 🥚
-Kiff pic.twitter.com/nYSTr1eNHC— Jaxson Dart (@JaxsonDart) November 24, 2023
What was clear during Egg Bowl week, and even before during preparations for ULM last week, was that Lane Kiffin meant business. Our sports editor, Adam Brown, and I talked this week about Kiffin’s demeanor postgame after ULM and during Monday’s press conference. There were no smiles, no laughs, no witty, sardonic replies.
Kiffin truly seemed focused solely on getting the trophy back to Oxford.
He even went so far as to explain that during the prep for ULM, the Rebels started some of the install for the State game. That’s not looking ahead; that’s preparing to beat your in-state rival.
Losing that trophy has been gnawing at Kiffin and getting it back was priority one.
“Excited to get the trophy back. It was really painful last year to lose that…we hope to keep it for a while.”
Lane Kiffin on the Egg Bowl Trophy
That loss has also been a thorn in the side of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart for a full year. Dart talked after the game about winning the Egg Bowl.
“I told myself that I was never going to lose in this game again. I thought we did a great job preparing for it as a team, and when it mattered, we were able to push forward and pull through.”
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart
After the game yesterday evening, Coach Kiffin reflected on the win to ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic. “It’s just really cool. It’s one of those things that you appreciate it more once you’ve lost it. To have it back for our players, for our fans… I just want to thank God for the opportunity to coach these guys because it’s just really cool. Half these guys are brand new and just came in here, and to win 10 games awesome.”
Now, Ole Miss will await the conclusion of the remainder of SEC games, as well as conference championships — including the SEC title game between Georgia and Alabama — to find out the Rebels’ fate for a bowl game. (Read more HERE.)
As always, we’ll keep you posted. Hotty Toddy!
(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Football)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
