Bigger than sports: MSU, Ole Miss join together with others at Mississippi Capitol to push for new state flag

If history is any indication, it likely won't be long until Mississippi State and Ole Miss are at odds with one another over something. Maybe it'll be a recruit. Perhaps it'll be a trophy shaped like an egg. Or in these two schools' wild and crazy history, it'll possibly be over something no one even sees coming. On Thursday though, at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, none of that mattered. Not one single bit.

The state of Mississippi's flag—which includes the confederate battle emblem many view as racist—was still flying all in and around the capitol building. However, administrators and coaches from Mississippi State, Ole Miss and many of the state's other colleges joined forces and met with legislators with the goal of getting that flag down. Bulldogs and Rebels might not always get along, but right now, at this moment in time, the long-time rivals are virtually hand-in-hand.

"We’ll leave this place and want to beat each other’s tail for sure in every sport, but I promise you this—we’re all united in this," Ole Miss men's basketball coach Kermit Davis said. "Every university, every college, every coach is united for this."

While legislators continued to try and gather the necessary votes to change the state flag Thursday, a contingent of personalities from athletic departments around the Magnolia State needed no convincing. In their minds, seemingly unanimously, the only decision to be made is to remove the flag.

Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen has repeatedly noted he believes a flag change is long overdue. The reasons are many for him. There's the fact that last week, the NCAA announced no Mississippi school can host an NCAA postseason event as long as the current state banner waves. There's the economic implications that come from that. But there's much more to it, Cohen says.

As winds of a possible flag change blew harder in the capitol over the course of Thursday, Cohen was among those hopeful a resolution is near that he believes would benefit Mississippi from all angles.

"Obviously we’d love to have this handled legislatively," Cohen said. "We’d love to see this handled quickly. I know a lot of people are working very hard to hopefully make that happen. This is important in so many different ways. You can talk about economic factors. You can talk about athletic competition. You can talk about our universities. You can talk about public education. Or you can just say it’s the right thing to do. This is a great opportunity to be on the right side of history."

Some legislators in the capitol believe a vote could very well come on the flag issue over the next couple of days. It's likely that the issue won't come to a vote unless there is enough support for a change.

But what happens if the current flag doesn't come down? Already, Mississippi State's star running back, Kylin Hill, has indicated he won't play at MSU this season if the current flag remains.

There's the long game too. That's one of the issues Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin mentioned on Thursday.

"I think you’re going to deal with some kids leaving the state or not wanting to come because of this (current flag)," Kiffin said.

So for all the state of Mississippi's coaches and administrators in Jackson, leaving the current flag up would almost assuredly create at least some professional problems. But the issue is deeply personal to many as well.

"I know firsthand what it feels like to see a confederate flag and pretend it doesn't have a racist, violent, oppressive overtone," MSU women's basketball head coach Nikki-McCray Penson said. "It screams hate and it hurts people...This symbol of hatred is so much bigger than athletics."

As such, in a state where the MSU-Ole Miss rivalry seemingly lives year-round, for right now at this moment in time, both athletic departments' leaders are on the same side. Joined by their instate peers at other schools, the whole group put the pedal to the floor on Thursday to try and push change across the finish line. Only time will tell if they did enough to get the job done.

Regardless, come November (if all remains as scheduled) Mississippi State and Ole Miss will meet in Oxford for the annual Battle for the Golden Egg and perhaps all will seem a bit more typical than things were on Thursday at the capitol. Maybe the intensity will be ramped back up. Perhaps there'll even be some animosity of some kind.

Then, just before kickoff, both schools could possibly run out of their tunnels toting identical state flags that no longer bear the symbol so many see as divisive. And it'll at least in part be a reminder of the day in June when Rebels and Bulldogs were teammates attempting to, in their view, push Mississippi forward.

"This is bigger than a rivalry," Cohen said. "It’s bigger than sports. It’s a great opportunity for our great state of Mississippi. I think all of us are so positive and all of us have a great feeling that change is underway."