Ole Miss is taking the interim tag off head football coach Matt Luke.
Ole Miss reportedly the interim tag off head coach Matt Luke
Hugh Freeze’s replacement might stick around for a while.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The hire is a bit surprising from afar, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. The Rebels were 3-5 heading into November, but they finished the year on a 3-1 run and would’ve been bowl-eligible if they hadn’t self-imposed a bowl ban amid an ongoing NCAA case. They ended their season by beating rival Mississippi State in a Thanksgiving Egg Bowl.
The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions still hasn’t handed down a ruling on the 21 compliance charges investigators have levied against Ole Miss.
The university parted with Hugh Freeze, the head coach whose staff is charged with most of them, shortly before the season. Freeze’s exit was the result of information uncovered in a lawsuit by counsel for Houston Nutt, the former Ole Miss coach who said the school unfairly pinned its compliance issues on him. Phone records reportedly revealed calls by Freeze to an escort service, which led to his his departure.
Freeze left the school in July, little more than a month before the season. Offensive line coach Luke was elevated to the interim job to replace him.
Luke put together a respectable season. On top of that, Ole Miss might decide that now, with a potential NCAA doomsday looming, isn’t the best time to be in the market for an outside hire. Given all that context, keeping Luke around makes some sense.
Some pros and cons, via Rebels blog Red Cup Rebellion.
The case for:
First things first, he kept a team of teenagers together and managed to win six games with an atrocious group on defense and new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Other than a blowout at the hands of Nick Saban, a road loss to Cal, and home losses to Arkansas and Texas A&M, he handled things fairly well at times. And even won the Egg Bowl on the road.
And against:
Luke has never been a head coach outside of this year’s interim gig. He has only been a co-offensive coordinator and position coach until this season. The aforementioned losses to Cal, Arkansas, and A&M had their own unique calls, strategies, and game plans that were quite puzzling. Could this be a product of his doing or the team just not being very good? I tend to lean towards the former. Luke is going to go through growing pains because that’s what new coaches do, and it will be on Bjork’s watch.
Hey Rebs,
Check out SB Nation’s Ole Miss blog.
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