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The University of Mississippi Athletics
SPOTLIGHT: A Celebration Of Champions
10/27/2010 | Football
Oct. 27, 2010
By Christina Steube
Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations
Students and athletes in the SEC dream of the day that their university will be named national champions and strive for the title each year. In 1960, those dreams became a reality for the football team as well as the students at Ole Miss.
The Rebels were among the winningest programs in the nation under legendary head coach John Vaught during the 50s and 60s. In three seasons from 1959-1962, the Rebels lost only three games and tied one. In 1959, the Rebels won the first of three national championships. Ole Miss repeated as national champions in 1960 going 10-0-1 and beating Rice in the Sugar Bowl.
Members of the 1960 national championship team, led by co-captains Jake Gibbs and Warner Alford, will reunite this weekend at the Auburn game in honor of the 50th anniversary of their accomplishment.
"The 1960 team was a very fine football team," Gibbs said, recalling that many players from the 1959 season returned. "We were a pretty well-balanced ball club, offensively and defensively."
Gibbs was the quarterback for the Rebels. In addition to two national titles, he also received many other honors. He was named Sports Illustrateds' eighth best college quarterback, he finished third in the Heisman race, earned SEC Player of the Year honors in 1960, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
"It was an honor to receive those, but I think anytime you get honors, you've had a lot of help to go with it, which means you had a wonderful coaching staff and great teammates," Gibbs said.
In addition to being a notable and highly awarded football player, Gibbs was also a star baseball player for the Rebels, who won the SEC Championship in baseball in 1960.
Many were surprised that Ole Miss could be National Champs with a student body of less than 5,000, including Gibbs' New York Yankee teammates.
"When I graduated, I signed a contract with the Yankees and spent 11 days with them and all the players were saying `Jake you got a good football team down there. What size is your student body?' And I told them we got about 3,400 people. `3,400 people, and you all are a national power?' Ole Miss was nationally known and it was a good honor."
Alford agrees with Gibbs that this was a memorable and special time in their lives.
"The 1960 team was one of those years that we were coming off of a great year from 1959 where we finished 9-1, were voted SEC Team of the Decade, and beat LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Coming back in 1960 was a big year to follow up on that," Alford said. "Fortunately, we had a great group of guys that had experience winning. We won 9, lost 0 and tied 1 and went to the Sugar Bowl and beat Rice. We were voted National Champions."
Alford recalls that the way the game was played 50 years ago was much different than the way it is played now. In 1960, the Rebels played six conference games compared to the eight conferences games that are on the schedule in 2010. He also noted that in 1960, athletes played both offense and defense, which anyone could imagine would make having a successful season twice as hard.
"We had back-to-back national championship teams. Looking back on that, it's such an awesome thing. It's hard to be on one national championship team, much less two, but we had a great coaching staff at Ole Miss led by Coach John Vaught. At that time, I don't think there's any university in the country that had a coaching staff like we did. That was probably the biggest thrill that I enjoyed. It was a fun time back then."
Teammate Billy Ray Adams adds that in his three years of only losing three games and lettering each year, the national championship was the best thing that happened. He is looking forward to the reunion.
"It's going to be a great thing. The guys that played back then have always been really close. We all know each other and keep up with each other. There was a lot of camaraderie," Adams said.
Gibbs is also looking forward to reuniting with a lot of his teammates after 50 years.
"We got a good game coming up with Auburn, and I think we'll have a good time. We always do, and I expect a good turnout because we like to get together and tell old stories," Gibbs said. "We're not young anymore so it's good to get together any time that we can and enjoy one another."
