Lane Kiffin Addresses Media to Begin Sugar Bowl Week
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin discussed the upcoming Allstate Sugar Bowl with media members on Monday afternoon.
Kiffin's opening statement praised his staff and team while also giving respect to Baylor head coach Dave Aranda and the work he has done in Waco.
"We're excited to be in the Sugar Bowl," Kiffin said. "It's obviously an amazing tradition, and for us to be in there our second year, it's a phenomenal job by our players and assistant coaches.
"They've always played great wherever [Aranda has] been, and they give people a lot of problems."
As the college football world once again deals with a new variant and spike of COVID-19 across the country, Kiffin states that his team has had its own problems with the virus as well.
"COVID is still around and has been an issue that we're dealing with," Kiffin said. "We pushed back as long as we could before going down there. We will be [in New Orleans] eventually. We're not going to get into the number of that or the details, but we do. We're doing the best that we can to manage it."
As Ole Miss pushed back the date of its arrival in New Orleans for the game, Kiffin says that the decision was largely based on how to best manage his players and keep them out of spreader situations.
"Ideally, from a COVID standpoint, we'd come in like a road game," Kiffin said. "We'd stay as long as they would let us. It's a lot easier to monitor kids. We were already scheduled to leave when they allowed us not to have to go as scheduled."
The Rebel head coach has also been a proponent of drumming up attendance for Ole Miss games this year, though he admits that COVID protocols in New Orleans may have an impact on how many fans for both teams travel to the game.
"I think you never know, especially with COVID," Kiffin said. "I don't think we're going to have any idea how many fans will be there with all the COVID stuff going on."
Outside of players who might miss the game due to COVID-19, the Rebels should have a full roster in place on New Year's Day. No player on Kiffin's team opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft prior to the Sugar Bowl.
"I think it's awesome," Kiffin said. "We didn't even have a conversation. I think it says a lot about this team and the culture that's been created here. It takes a while for your culture to set in, so that was really cool to see."
Ole Miss and Baylor are set to kick off at 7:45 p.m. CT on Jan. 1. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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