Forward Rebels’ newspaper ad causes stir with fans

Anyone who saw or heard about the Ole Miss Rebels’ 30-7 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday knew Monday would be an interesting day for Ole Miss football and athletics. 

Monday came and it did not disappoint. The nonprofit organization Forward Rebels took out full-page ads in multiple newspapers across Mississippi and Memphis with bold red letters that said, “Are you tired of losing, Ole Miss fans?”

“The ad speaks for itself and there will be more,” Forward Rebels member Lee Habeeb said via e-mail.

In the ad, the members of the group blamed the current state of the athletics program on the current administration of athletics director Pete Boone and Chancellor Dan Jones: “Our leadership has failed us. And our leadership must be held accountable.”

As a target of such attacks, Boone looked not to the ads, but to the state of the football and athletics programs. 

“I saw the ad,” Boone said in Monday’s press conference in the Indoor Practice Facility. “I have been in the business for 15 years, and I’m not paying much attention to the ad in the papers.”

Boone said focusing on the program was more important than concerning himself with the ad in the newspapers.

“We’ve got 350 athletes, we’ve got about 500 or 600 people here that are taking care of the Ole Miss program,” Boone said. “That’s where my focus is — always has been and always will be.”

With the loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday, people were left wondering about the timing of Monday’s ad.

“The ads had been planned for some time and were placed in advance of the game,” Habeeb wrote in the e-mail. “Moreover, our campaign is not about the results of any one game. It is about accountability. It is about leadership.”

When the ad hit newsstands Monday, fans took to the message boards and the Forward Rebels Facebook page expressing both pleasure and dismay with the ad, with many posts saying they no longer supported the group and that this is not what they had signed up for initially.

“Many fans are supporting us, some are not,” Habeeb said in the e-mail. “But it has been overwhelmingly positive.”

In light of these ads, Boone was asked about support from the fan base and alums going forward. He’s not focusing on that, but on the road ahead for Ole Miss athletics.

“I don’t put a lot of worry or thought into those kinds of things,” Boone said. “I’ve been around a while. If I spend too much of my time worried about that, I won’t be focusing on the things that are really important. I certainly am not arrogant and I’m certainly not over-confident.

“I feel every day I need to earn my keep, mainly because it’s about Ole Miss, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to help Ole Miss athletics be successful. That’s where my focus is. That’s what I’m going to look at every day.”