The Rebels haven't played this well since 1962, which happens to be the same year troops stood up to mob violence to force the University of Mississippi, under federal court order, to admit James Meredith as its first black student. Jones' predecessor, Robert Khayat, banned hand-held flagpoles from the stadium in 1997 after coaches complained that Confederate flag-waving was hurting recruiting, and about a decade ago, the university retired Col.