Alford Family Carries Ole Miss Legacy Forward at Fiesta Bowl
1960 national championship winner's family tribute ties Ole Miss past to present
OXFORD, Miss. – The last time the University of Mississippi won a football national championship, in 1960, offensive lineman Warner Alford was on the field. As the Rebels prepare for a semifinal that could send them back to the title game, Alford's son and daughter-in-law will be there, too – wearing his letterman sweater.
John Warner Alford III and his wife, Michelle Alford, have attended each of the Rebels' College Football Playoff games, and at each event, a member of the family has worn a piece of the family's history.
Warner Alford was an offensive lineman for the 1960 Ole Miss Rebels team that captured the SEC Championship and was named national champions.
"When they said we have to wear red for the Fiesta Bowl, it was a no-brainer," Michelle Alford said. "It's a good luck thing to all of our friends now, and it's so special to be able to represent Ole Miss and the history of this."
Warner Alford is a Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inductee who led the Ole Miss Rebels to the 1960 national championship with co-captain Jake Gibbs under legendary coach Johnny Vaught. Alford went to five bowl games during his career – three as a player and two as a coach – and brought five trophies back to Ole Miss.
"My sister, Phyllis, she's the family historian," John Alford said. "She couldn't make it to the Tulane game, but she was wearing Dad's no. 60 jersey at home and asked if Michelle would want to wear the letterman sweater to the Sugar Bowl. That's how this all got started."
The sweater has a patch on the shoulder that reads: "National and SEC Champions."
"My Dad, his generation is going away," John said. "He'll be 88 in April, and if he could be here, he'd be there front and center. So, we wanted to do something to honor him."
"We feel like he'll be there in his heart," Michelle added.
Not long after leaving the field, Alford returned to Ole Miss and served as athletics director for more than 16 years. He later worked with the UM Foundation, the Trent Lott Leadership Institute and the Ole Miss First Scholars Program.
Kay (left) and Warner Alford appear in a full-page photo from a 1960 issue of Sports Illustrated that previewed the Ole Miss Rebels' upcoming season. The Alfords re-created the photo in 2013 when the University of Mississippi Foundation created the Warner and Kay Alford Ole Miss Opportunity Endowment in their honor. Photos by Sports Illustrated and Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
His final position was with the Ole Miss Alumni Association, where he served as executive director from 2004 to 2008. In all, Alford dedicated more than half his life to Ole Miss.
Ole Miss is also where Alford met his wife of 64 years, Kay Swayze Alford. Kay's father, Thomas King Swayze, was Ole Miss' baseball coach and first football recruiter. He recruited Alford for the team, the two youths met and, after more than a year, Alford finally worked up the courage to ask her out.
Michelle Alford wears Warner Alford's 1960 letterman sweater with the national championship patch at the 2026 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Submitted photo
They married in 1961 and raised three children – Thomas Swayze Alford, John Warner Alford III and Phyllis Alford Daniels. Kay Swayze Alford died in February 2025.
"You know, with our family and growing up in Oxford, Ole Miss was never a decision; we were born into it," John said. "We have season tickets. We go to the home games. It's a family thing."
That's a tradition they're passing on to their children, too. As John and Michelle traveled to Glendale, Arizona, on Wednesday, their sons – John Warner Alford IV, 17, and Jude Alford, 13 – were in the back seat of the car.
"Like John said, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Michelle said. "We wanted to experience that, and for our boys to experience that.
"For our family, for them to be able to say, 'We were there'; it just means more to us."
That's what Hotty Toddy means to the Alford family: being there for each other and for the Rebels.
"You know, being married into this family, I get to see it through their eyes," Michelle said. "I didn't go to Ole Miss, but this family has welcomed me in, and that's what Ole Miss fans do.
"If you're red and blue, you're family."
Top: The Alford family – (from left) Michelle, John, Jude, and John Warner Alford IV – attend the 2026 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Michelle wears Warner Alford's 1960 national championship letterman sweater in his honor as they watch the Rebels defeat the Georgia Bulldogs to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Submitted photo