matt luke was the head coach of ole miss football.
matt luke was the head coach of ole miss football.
who is the head coach of ole miss football?
matt luke
the ole miss football team played its first season in 1893, and since then have fielded a team every year except for 1897 (due to a yellow fever epidemic) and 1943 (due to world war ii). in that first season, the team compiled a 4–1 record under head coach alexander bondurant. in 1899, ole miss became a member of the southern intercollegiate athletic association (siaa). the program then joined the southern conference in 1922 and the southeastern conference in 1933. in 1947, johnny vaught became head coach and led the team to its first conference championship. vaught coached ole miss for 25 seasons, compiling a 190–61–12 record and winning six conference championships, three national championships, and ten bowl games. since vaught's departure in 1973, the rebels have gone through a number of head coaches, none of them able to replicate the success of the vaught era. the longest tenured coach since vaught was billy brewer, who in 11 seasons from 1983 to 1993 compiled a 68–55–3 record and won three bowl games. the team's current head coach is matt luke, who took over the role in an interim capacity before the 2017 season after hugh freeze resigned.
ole miss rebels football
however, brewer's tenure at ole miss was marred by allegations of recruiting improprieties that twice led to run-ins with the ncaa. the rebels were banned from post-season play and live television for the 1987 season after a two-year investigation found that ole miss recruits had received cash and other gifts from boosters. the penalties were a source of embarrassment for dr. gerald turner, then ole miss' chancellor and previously the head of the ncaa's president's commission, and one of the first milestones in turner's stormy relationship with brewer. "we have made some mistakes," brewer said at a news conference following the announcement of the sanctions. "we are being punished for those mistakes, and we do not intend ever to be in this situation again." however, in december 1993, brewer and ole miss were again hit by allegations of recruiting violations. the ncaa would eventually cite the program for 15 transgressions, all of them serious and some of them embarrassingly lurid. an ncaa report said that ole miss boosters and coaches had offered recruits gifts, including cash and, in one case, a car. boosters were also accused of breaking national rules by taking recruits 30 miles outside of oxford, sometimes to strip clubs in memphis. most damningly, the ncaa alleged that ole miss officials knowingly allowed the violations to occur, demonstrating a lack of institutional control of the football program. the charges forced athletic director warner alford to resign in july 1994. one day later, turner fired brewer, granting him 30 days' paid leave but no other severance package for the three years remaining on his contract. later that year, the ncaa, when announcing severe penalties against the ole miss football program, found brewer guilty of unethical conduct. specifically, it stated "there was unethical conduct by a former (ole miss) head football coach (brewer), who was found to show a continuing pattern of disregard for ncaa rules in the operation of the football program ((jackson, ms) clarion ledger, november 18, 1994, p.6-7c)." brewer sued the university for his dismissal, eventually receiving several hundred thousand dollars.
history of ole miss rebels football