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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Roberson Remembers: Brewer’s Motivational Walk Continues for Ole Miss Football
11/19/2021 | Football
The Creation of One of College Football's Greatest Pregame Traditions
When sports writer Don Whitten collaborated with Billy Brewer on a book following the 1983 Ole Miss football season, the early pages of "The Dog Comes Home" were about an event in its infancy. But it caught on quickly.
It would become known as the Walk of Champions, a tradition that began one Saturday morning when Brewer, in his first year as the Ole Miss head coach, led his players from Kinard Hall athletic dormitory toward the Grove as he searched for anything to get his struggling team motivated.
The Rebels lost to Georgia later that day, but Brewer got what he wanted out of the walk. Below are excerpts from the book about the beginnings of a cherished gameday ritual in Oxford, one that has been copied by schools, especially in the South. But Ole Miss' Walk of Champions was an original, apparently the first of its kind. The blueprint.
Said Brewer in the book: "I got to the dorm a little past eleven. As we walked by the Student Union and neared the Grove, I could tell this particular day was different. Our players were walking with their heads high and their eyes off the ground. When we broke through the magnolias to start across the Grove, hundreds of fans spotted us. They began to run to the edge of the sidewalk and lined it on both sides and started to clap."
After an 0-3 start, the Rebels had beaten Arkansas, but at 1-4 were reeling. It was a program that had been among the nation's winningest when Brewer played. The Rebels set the national record in Division I for consecutive bowl appearances from 1957-71 at 15 straight.
But since a 41-18 win over Georgia Tech in the 1971 Peach Bowl, Ole Miss had not been to a bowl at all. And 1983 was looking like another season of home for the holidays for the Rebels.
Few could have thought after the loss to Georgia, with the Rebels at 1-5, that things were about to turn. But they were. In the book Brewer credited, among other things, the walk through the Grove.
More from Brewer: "I started to turn to (the players) and say, 'If you don't know what it's all about now, you'll never find it.' But I could sense they felt it. It was the greatest feeling I've ever had. The chill bumps on me had to be an inch and a half high. My eyes were watering. When we got to the (Doc Knight) fieldhouse . . . I started in on them immediately, talking about pride, Ole Miss pride. I talked about character and walking across the Grove. And for the first time, they responded emotionally. It was like they all exploded inside. I knew then, win or lose, they knew what Ole Miss football was all about."
---
This Saturday against Vanderbilt wraps up the 2021 home schedule for Ole Miss, and some players will make their final walk through the Grove with their teammates.
Brett Brewer, the oldest son of Billy Brewer, was on the 1983 team but was redshirting. He played the following season and was a graduate assistant the year after that. He understands the Walk of Champions as well as any player who ever participated.
He also knows his father started something significant that day, and there was another reason that particular day was special.
"It was his birthday," Brett said.
On October 8, 1983, Billy Brewer turned 49 years old.
"He had a good vision of what he wanted. Back then tailgating was not what it is today. People still parked their cars in the Grove (through the 1991 season). It's a lot different now," Brett said.
"But the biggest thing for him that day was to motivate the players and the fans, and find some way to get some unity for the University and to get some traditions going, a unique gameday experience. And that's exactly what happened."
---
Ole Miss went to Fort Worth, Texas, the following week and defeated TCU. After that, the Rebels hosted Vanderbilt for Homecoming and won. Then came wins over LSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State.
There was one memorable video clip that Brewer summed things up pretty well during that winning stretch.
"A lot of folks gave up on us and said 'You can have my tickets.' Hey, they want 'em back now," he said, smiling broadly, obviously proud that his team had bought in and was having success.
The win against the Bulldogs was particularly meaningful, because the Rebels had to win it to get to a bowl game. After falling behind 17-0, Ole Miss won 24-23 in a contest that's still called "The Immaculate Deflection" game. MSU placekicker Artie Cosby missed a 27-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining as a massive gust of wind blew the football straight up, then sideways. It never reached the goalpost.
Ole Miss, however, had reached a bowl - the Independence Bowl where they would play Air Force a few weeks later. The 12-year bowl drought was over.
---
Kelly Powell was the senior quarterback on that team. He has fond memories of that year, his last in a Rebel uniform. And he certainly recalls that first Walk of Champions.
"We really didn't know what was going on," Powell said. "We walked from the dorm and we were all thinking, 'What are we doing?' It was one of those things that at first we really didn't know. But (Brewer) knew what he was doing, and he was bringing us along with him. It worked, and it's still working to this day."
Powell talked about how the "Walk" has grown, how it's so anticipated now by fans and players, and even media, on weekends like recent ones when LSU and Texas A&M were in Oxford.
But it's still mainly about motivating players for the game that day. And as a former starting quarterback, Powell is well aware of that.
"If a kid walks through (the Grove) and can't get fired up about playing football for the Ole Miss Rebels, then he probably doesn't need to be playing."
---
Billy Brewer was the head coach at his alma mater for 11 seasons with five bowl teams. His record against Mississippi State, 7-1 through the first eight years, was 8-3. He loved the Ole Miss-LSU rivalry.
He is still second on the all-time list of victories for an Ole Miss head football coach, trailing only his own head coach, John Vaught. Billy Brewer died on May 12, 2018.
Said Brett of the Grove and what the Walk of Champions has become, "It's pretty cool to see ESPN GameDay descend on Oxford, Mississippi, and it's kind of the cool place to be, and people are putting it on their bucket list to be a part of that. They see what it's turned into. There may have been some type of walk somewhere else before 1983, but not like this. We were on the forefront of starting something unique that everybody else kind of copied."
Credit goes to his father for that, who decided to try something different to motivate his team, and it worked.
Almost 40 years later, the Walk of Champions on gamedays at Ole Miss is still doing that for the home team.
It would become known as the Walk of Champions, a tradition that began one Saturday morning when Brewer, in his first year as the Ole Miss head coach, led his players from Kinard Hall athletic dormitory toward the Grove as he searched for anything to get his struggling team motivated.
The Rebels lost to Georgia later that day, but Brewer got what he wanted out of the walk. Below are excerpts from the book about the beginnings of a cherished gameday ritual in Oxford, one that has been copied by schools, especially in the South. But Ole Miss' Walk of Champions was an original, apparently the first of its kind. The blueprint.
Said Brewer in the book: "I got to the dorm a little past eleven. As we walked by the Student Union and neared the Grove, I could tell this particular day was different. Our players were walking with their heads high and their eyes off the ground. When we broke through the magnolias to start across the Grove, hundreds of fans spotted us. They began to run to the edge of the sidewalk and lined it on both sides and started to clap."
After an 0-3 start, the Rebels had beaten Arkansas, but at 1-4 were reeling. It was a program that had been among the nation's winningest when Brewer played. The Rebels set the national record in Division I for consecutive bowl appearances from 1957-71 at 15 straight.
But since a 41-18 win over Georgia Tech in the 1971 Peach Bowl, Ole Miss had not been to a bowl at all. And 1983 was looking like another season of home for the holidays for the Rebels.
Few could have thought after the loss to Georgia, with the Rebels at 1-5, that things were about to turn. But they were. In the book Brewer credited, among other things, the walk through the Grove.
More from Brewer: "I started to turn to (the players) and say, 'If you don't know what it's all about now, you'll never find it.' But I could sense they felt it. It was the greatest feeling I've ever had. The chill bumps on me had to be an inch and a half high. My eyes were watering. When we got to the (Doc Knight) fieldhouse . . . I started in on them immediately, talking about pride, Ole Miss pride. I talked about character and walking across the Grove. And for the first time, they responded emotionally. It was like they all exploded inside. I knew then, win or lose, they knew what Ole Miss football was all about."
---
This Saturday against Vanderbilt wraps up the 2021 home schedule for Ole Miss, and some players will make their final walk through the Grove with their teammates.
Brett Brewer, the oldest son of Billy Brewer, was on the 1983 team but was redshirting. He played the following season and was a graduate assistant the year after that. He understands the Walk of Champions as well as any player who ever participated.
He also knows his father started something significant that day, and there was another reason that particular day was special.
"It was his birthday," Brett said.
On October 8, 1983, Billy Brewer turned 49 years old.
"He had a good vision of what he wanted. Back then tailgating was not what it is today. People still parked their cars in the Grove (through the 1991 season). It's a lot different now," Brett said.
"But the biggest thing for him that day was to motivate the players and the fans, and find some way to get some unity for the University and to get some traditions going, a unique gameday experience. And that's exactly what happened."
---
Ole Miss went to Fort Worth, Texas, the following week and defeated TCU. After that, the Rebels hosted Vanderbilt for Homecoming and won. Then came wins over LSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State.
There was one memorable video clip that Brewer summed things up pretty well during that winning stretch.
"A lot of folks gave up on us and said 'You can have my tickets.' Hey, they want 'em back now," he said, smiling broadly, obviously proud that his team had bought in and was having success.
The win against the Bulldogs was particularly meaningful, because the Rebels had to win it to get to a bowl game. After falling behind 17-0, Ole Miss won 24-23 in a contest that's still called "The Immaculate Deflection" game. MSU placekicker Artie Cosby missed a 27-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining as a massive gust of wind blew the football straight up, then sideways. It never reached the goalpost.
Ole Miss, however, had reached a bowl - the Independence Bowl where they would play Air Force a few weeks later. The 12-year bowl drought was over.
---
Kelly Powell was the senior quarterback on that team. He has fond memories of that year, his last in a Rebel uniform. And he certainly recalls that first Walk of Champions.
"We really didn't know what was going on," Powell said. "We walked from the dorm and we were all thinking, 'What are we doing?' It was one of those things that at first we really didn't know. But (Brewer) knew what he was doing, and he was bringing us along with him. It worked, and it's still working to this day."
Powell talked about how the "Walk" has grown, how it's so anticipated now by fans and players, and even media, on weekends like recent ones when LSU and Texas A&M were in Oxford.
But it's still mainly about motivating players for the game that day. And as a former starting quarterback, Powell is well aware of that.
"If a kid walks through (the Grove) and can't get fired up about playing football for the Ole Miss Rebels, then he probably doesn't need to be playing."
---
Billy Brewer was the head coach at his alma mater for 11 seasons with five bowl teams. His record against Mississippi State, 7-1 through the first eight years, was 8-3. He loved the Ole Miss-LSU rivalry.
He is still second on the all-time list of victories for an Ole Miss head football coach, trailing only his own head coach, John Vaught. Billy Brewer died on May 12, 2018.
Said Brett of the Grove and what the Walk of Champions has become, "It's pretty cool to see ESPN GameDay descend on Oxford, Mississippi, and it's kind of the cool place to be, and people are putting it on their bucket list to be a part of that. They see what it's turned into. There may have been some type of walk somewhere else before 1983, but not like this. We were on the forefront of starting something unique that everybody else kind of copied."
Credit goes to his father for that, who decided to try something different to motivate his team, and it worked.
Almost 40 years later, the Walk of Champions on gamedays at Ole Miss is still doing that for the home team.
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