The Ole Miss Rebels, the football team of the University of Mississippi, was founded in 1893. The state's first football team, the Rebels currently play in the FBS Subdivision of NCAA Division 1 Football and in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Ole Miss claims three national championships despite never finishing No. 1 in the AP and Coaches Polls, and won six SEC championships (1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, 1963).
In 2019, the program received one of the biggest punishments ever issued by the NCAA for recruiting and academic violations: a two-year postseason ban, three years of probation, a four-year ban on certain scholarships, and the erasure of 33 wins from 2010 to 2016.
Overview Early history (1893–1946) In 1890, Dr. Alexander Bondurant, later the dean of the Ole Miss Graduate School, rallied Ole Miss students to help form an athletic department to encompass the sports of football, baseball and tennis. The students brought this initiative to reality and in 1893, with Bondurant as the coach, a football team came to fruition. The first team won four of five games during that inaugural football season with Bondurant as head coach. One of those wins was the very first football game ever played by an Ole Miss team, a 56–0 defeat against Southwest Baptist University of Jackson, Tennessee (now known as Union University). This was on November 11, 1893.
The next year, 1894, Bondurant passed on his coaching duties. Ole Miss Football, a book published in 1980 by Sports Yearbook Company of Oxford, MS, says J.W.S. Rhea was the first coach at Ole Miss having been hired part-time by Bondurant and having led the 1894 team to a 6–1 record. The annual Ole Miss media guide lists C.D. Clark as the coach of the 1894 team and further says about him, "Although it has never been documented, it is thought that C.D. Clark of Tufts was the first paid football coach at Ole Miss. His name appears as manager of the team as shown in the Ole Miss Magazine dated November 1894." The College Football Data Warehouse also lists Clark as the coach for the 1894 team.
In 1896, John W. Hollister led the Rebels to a 1–2 record. Ole Miss did not field a football team in 1897; a yellow fever epidemic cancelled the football season. In 1898 the school joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The 1899 team went 3–4 and beat a winless Tulane. The 1900 team did not win a game and played no home games. The 1901 team was coached by Virginia graduate William Shibley, won no conference games, and played in the first Egg Bowl. Auburn graduates Daniel S. Martin and Mike Harvey coached the 1902 and 1903 teams. The 1903 team's one loss was 33–0 to Vanderbilt. The 1904 season was up-and-down, featuring a 69–0 loss to SIAA champion Vanderbilt and 114–0 defeat of Southwest Baptist. Vanderbilt was led by first year head coach Dan McGugin, who is the only coach in NCAA history to win his first three games by 60 points, "The whole South read that 69–0 score and gasped." The 1905 team lost both of its two games, against Cumberland and in the Egg Bowl. All-Southern lineman James C. Elmer caught the first forward pass in the history of the Egg Bowl rivalry in 1906. Elmer's kicking accounted for 13 points in a 29–5 rout.
In Frank A. Mason's only season as head coach, Mississippi went 0–6. In what would be his final game as head coach, Ole Miss faced rival Mississippi A&M on a cold, wet Thanksgiving Day. Before the second half began, Mason brought out an urn filled with whisky-laced coffee in an attempt to warm his players. Sloppy second-half play resulted in a 15–0 Ole Miss loss. After the game, many of the players blamed Mason for the loss and when asked if the team was returning home that night, Mason was quoted as saying "Yes, the team is going north at 11 o'clock. I'm going in another direction, and hope I never see them again!"
Former Vanderbilt quarterback Frank Kyle coached the 1908 team and Ike Knox was selected All-Southern. Grantland Rice wrote “If Knox has been upon a Vanderbilt, Sewanee or Auburn eleven he would more than likely have been hailed as one of the greatest halfbacks of the decade.” Nathan Stauffer served as the head coach for the 1909, 1910 and 1911 seasons. His record at Ole Miss was 17 wins, 7 losses and 2 ties (17–7–2). The 1910 team lost just one game, to SIAA champion Vanderbilt. Guard Earl Kinnebrew was selected All-Southern. Rube Barker and By Walton were All-Southern in 1911, and Pete Shields was in the backfield. Barker, John C. Adams, and Ralph Fletcher were All-Southern in 1912. William L. Driver coached the 1913 team and Barker was team captain. The 1914 team shutout LSU. Former Vanderbilt quarterback Fred A. Robins coached the team from 1915 to 1916, and failed to win a conference game.
During the First World War, Ole Miss was coached by Dudy Noble, the only coach to lose two Egg Bowls in one season. He also coached baseball, and is the namesake of Dudy Noble Field. From 1919 to 1921, Ole Miss football was coached by R. L. Sullivan, who also coached basketball. In 1922 the school joined the Southern Conference (SoCon). Roland Cowell coached the team from 1922 to 1923, and failed to win a conference game. Chester S. Barnard was coach in 1924 and also failed to win a conference game. In February 1925, Homer Hazel signed on to become the head football coach at Ole Miss. Thad Vann, who played for Hazel at Ole Miss from 1926 to 1929, later credited Hazel with "launching the University of Mississippi's rise as a national football power". Hazel coached the team for five years, compiling records of 5–5 in 1925, 5–4 in 1926, 5–3–1 in 1927, 5–4 in 1928, and 1–6–2 in 1929. His five-year record as head football coach was 21–22–3. End Ap Applewhite, guard V. K. Smith and fullback Sollie Cohen were All-Southern in 1927. Gee Walker was on the 1928 team. After the poor showing in 1929, the Ole Miss student body and alumni were reportedly opposed to Hazel's tactics on the football field. Hazel resigned his post at Ole Miss in January 1930.
Leading Ole Miss into the Southeastern Conference in 1933 was head coach Ed Walker, who served as the school's head coach from 1930 to 1937. The Rebels compiled a record of 38–38–8 record under Walker, which included a 9–3 campaign in 1935, which culminated in a loss in the Orange Bowl. The 1936 team was the first to use the nickname "Rebels". Under head coach Harry Mehre, who led the Rebels from 1938 to 1945, the Rebels compiled a record of 39–26–1, which included two 9–2 seasons in 1938 and 1940. In 1943, football was abolished at all Mississippi state-supported institutions by the state college board of trustees due to World War II. On January 14, 1946, the University of Mississippi announced that it had signed Harold Drew to a three-year contract to succeed Mehre as the head football coach for the Ole Miss Rebels. Drew led Ole Miss to a record in his one year as head coach.
Johnny Vaught era (1947–1970) Johnny Vaught, a line coach at Ole Miss in 1946 under Drew and a former All-American at Texas Christian University (TCU), remained in Oxford as head coach in 1947 and led the Ole Miss program to national prominence over the next 24 years, posting 23 winning records. In his first season at the helm in 1947, the Rebels posted a 9–2 record and won the first of six SEC crowns (1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, 1963). That 1947 season also saw Ole Miss great Charlie Conerly become the first Rebel player to be a contender for the Heisman Trophy, placing fourth in the voting for the prestigious honor. Ole Miss won the 1959 Dunkel System national crown, the 1960 Football Writers Association of America, Dunkel System, and Williamson System national championships and the 1962 Litkenhous Ratings national title. Vaught's 1962 squad remains the only undefeated team in Ole Miss football history. Vaught's 1959 squad, which was honored as the "SEC Team of the Decade," was ranked the third best collegiate football team from 1956 to 1995, according to the Jeff Sagarin Ratings released in January 1996.
The Rebels were also among the winningest programs in the country under Vaught during the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1959, Ole Miss posted an 80–21–5 record (.778 winning percentage). The 77.8 winning percentage was third to only Oklahoma and Miami (OH) during that decade. In the 1960s, Vaught guided the Rebels to a 77–25–6 record and a 74.0 winning percentage, which was the ninth best during that decade. The Rebels 1962 season under Vaught is, to this day, the only undefeated season in Ole Miss history (finishing at 10–0). In the 1950s and 1960s under Vaught, Ole Miss was a fixture in the national polls. The Rebels were ranked atop the Associated Press poll for three weeks during the 1960 season and one week during the 1961 campaign. In 1964, Ole Miss was ranked preseason No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. Vaught also made going to postseason play the norm rather than the exception for the Rebel football program. Ole Miss played in 15 consecutive bowl games from 1957 to 1971 which, at that time, was a national record. In all, Vaught led Ole Miss to 18 bowl game appearances, posting a 10–8 record in those contests. For his efforts, Vaught was named SEC Coach of the Year six times (1947, 1948, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962).
During his time at the helm, Vaught coached some of the best players ever to wear the red & navy blue. In 24 seasons, Vaught produced 18 All-America first teamers. He also coached four players who finished in the top five in the Heisman Trophy voting. Along with Conerly in 1947, Charlie Flowers (5th in 1959), Jake Gibbs (3rd in 1960) and Archie Manning (4th in 1969, 3rd in 1970) were in the running for college football's top honor. Failing health forced Vaught to resign his position in 1970 and the reins of the Ole Miss football program were turned over to Billy Kinard. Vaught is the only coach in Ole Miss history to win an SEC football championship. His 1960 team finished 10–0–1 and was the only major-conference team to go undefeated on the field that year. As a result, it won a share of the national championship; it was awarded the Grantland Rice Award from the Football Writers Association of America after the bowl games. In those days, the wire services crowned their national champion before the bowl games. It is very likely that Ole Miss would have finished atop one poll, if not both, had they been taken after the bowl games as they are today. Vaught took Ole Miss to 18 bowl games, winning 10 times including five victories in the Sugar Bowl. Only two coaches held a winning record against Vaught: Paul "Bear" Bryant, with a record of 7 wins, 6 losses, and 1 tie against Vaught, and Robert Neyland holding a 3 win to two loss advantage. When Vaught took the reins at Ole Miss in 1947, the Rebels were ninth in all-time SEC wins. By the time he retired in 1970, the Rebels had moved up to third, behind only Alabama and Tennessee.