Ole Miss Names Matt Luke Head Coach

Matt Luke can kiss that “interim” tag goodbye. He will be the new head coach for Ole Miss football, according to a report by Neal McCready and RebelGrove.com.
Ole Miss Football’s Twitter page later tweeted that the hire is official, and a press conference will be held at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow.
When Bjork announced the decision at a team meeting Sunday night, student workers in the Athletic Office say Luke strode into the room with the Egg Bowl trophy held high while onlookers cheered. The media was not allowed to attend the meeting.
Luke was named the Rebels’ interim head coach in late July after Hugh Freeze resigned in the wake of reports that he had made multiple phone calls to an escort service. Luke, the scion of a longtime Ole Miss family, took over the job with less than two months to prepare and an ongoing NCAA investigation looming over the troubled program.

It was no secret that many of the players wanted Luke to be their coach next year. Wide receiver A.J. Brown stated it flatly after Thursday night’s Egg Bowl.
“A lot of the players want to see Coach Luke [get the permanent job],” Brown told reporters. “We will be really upset if he’s not [hired]. We love that guy. We want him to be our head coach.”
Luke interviewed for the job on Friday, trying to make a case that the team’s 6-6 performance this year—coupled with his love for Ole Miss football and his family’s legacy with the team—made him the right candidate. Luke’s father, Tommy, played for the Rebels years ago, and his brother, Tom Luke, was a quarterback.
There were reports earlier Sunday that the Rebels would hold a team meeting at 8 p.m., but it was unclear whether the meeting would be focused strictly on academics or if the occasion was more momentous.
McCready writes that Luke has been making a concerted effort to land the permanent gig since he was hired as interim coach in late July, following the abrupt departure of Hugh Freeze.
In addition to keeping a demoralized team focused and guiding them through an up-and-down season, “Luke also made key contacts with critical boosters and built support,” McCready writes. “Luke allowed access to boosters who crave that more than life itself. A campaign in Oxford and among former players applied pressure to Bjork, and make no mistake, that pressure was felt. There’s no other explanation.”

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Rick Hynum is HottyToddy.com’s editor-in-chief, and Adam Brown is the sports editor.