Ole Miss issued the following statement on its website.
Ross Bjork, Ole Miss Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics, officially introduced Matt Luke as the Rebels head football coach Monday morning.
Luke, who becomes the 38th head coach in program history, led Ole Miss to a 6-6 record as interim head coach during the 2017 season, including a 31-28 Egg Bowl victory over No. 14 Mississippi State.
During his 24 years as a player and coach at the collegiate level, Luke has risen through the ranks while learning from a number of successful veteran coaches. He has worked alongside national champion Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and former Ole Miss head coach Tommy Tuberville, among others. On the field, he has mentored 17 all-league selections as well as All-Americans and first-round draft picks Laremy Tunsil and Laken Tomlinson.
Luke, a four-year center for the Rebels (1995-98), just wrapped up his 10th season as a coach at Ole Miss. Prior to taking over as interim head coach, Luke spent five seasons as the team's co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. During his first stop in Oxford (2002-05), Luke served four seasons coaching the Ole Miss tight ends and offensive line under Cutcliffe.
Since returning to Oxford in 2012, Luke has helped the Rebels earn four bowl berths, including a 10-3 record and Sugar Bowl victory to cap the 2015 season.
Luke's 2017 Rebels saw breakout performances from all three phases of the game.
A.J. Brown, the SEC leader in multiple receiving categories, set single-season marks in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, while senior running back Jordan Wilkins became just the fifth Rebel to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in a single season. Quarterbacks Shea Patterson and Jordan Ta'amu both threw for 350 or more yards in three games during the 2017 season, becoming just the fourth FBS team in the last 20 seasons to accomplish that feat.
The 2017 Rebel defense finished the season strong, forcing five turnovers in season finale win against Mississippi State Senior linebacker DeMarquis Gates finished the season with 114 tackles, the most in a single season since Patrick Willis had 137 in 2006.
Luke also saw senior kicker Gary Wunderlich become Ole Miss' career record-holder in points scored (350), points kicking (350), field goals made (64), PATs made (158) and PATs attempted (162).
Under Luke's tutelage, the 2016 offensive line helped Ole Miss lead the SEC in passing for the second consecutive year (314.9 ypg) and rank 13th nationally. The Rebels averaged 464.3 yards in total offense, good enough for third in the SEC. Luke also mentored left tackle Greg Little to a Freshman All-American season. He coached Javon Patterson, Sean Rawlings and Rod Taylor to play multiple spots on the line as well.
In 2015, Luke's offensive line paved the way for the Rebels to have a record-breaking year on that side of the ball. Ole Miss set program records for scoring (531), touchdowns (68), total offense (6,731), passing yards (4,351) and passing touchdowns (35), among others. The Rebels led the SEC and were top 10 nationally in scoring (40.8), total offense (517.8 ypg) and passing (334.7 ypg).
In 2015, senior Fahn Cooper collected the third-ever Kent Hull Trophy, presented to the most outstanding offensive lineman in Mississippi, making Luke the coach of back-to-back Hull Trophy winners. Tunsil won the award in 2014. In three years of college, Tunsil played in 29 games with 26 starts at left tackle and surrendered only two sacks.
Luke helped develop both Tunsil and Cooper into NFL draft picks. Tunsil was taken 13th overall by the Miami Dolphins, and Cooper was selected in the fifth round by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2016 draft.
Having to replace three starters due to graduation, Luke helped the 2014 Rebel squad rank seventh in the SEC in total offense (419.1 ypg) and yards per play (6.0). The offensive line also helped the Rebels rank fifth in the SEC and 37th nationally in passing offense (263.6 ypg).
As a unit, the offensive line helped pave the way for Ole Miss to rack up 500 or more total yards in four games last year, including a season-high 640 total yards, the second-most in school history, against Presbyterian.
In 2013, Luke helped oversee a Rebel offense that broke the then-school record for total offense (473.3 ypg). The Rebels ranked third in the SEC in passing offense (283.3 ypg) and fifth in total offense, while finishing top 25 in the NCAA in both categories.
As a unit, the offensive line helped pave the way for the Rebels to rack up 500 or more total yards in five games, including a program-record 751 against Troy.
His guidance of the offensive line included plugging in star freshman Tunsil to the starting lineup early in the 2013 season and seeing immediate results. One of only two true freshmen in the country to be a full-time starter at left tackle, Tunsil allowed just one sack while protecting quarterback Bo Wallace's blind side. When Tunsil was named to the AP All-SEC second team, he became one of the first two true freshmen in school history to be tabbed All-SEC (along with TE Evan Engram).
In 2012, Luke helped Ole Miss improve in almost all offensive categories from the previous season, including total yards per game and points per game.
Luke developed an inexperienced offensive line into a unit that could hold its own in the SEC, as the Rebels ranked fifth in the league in rushing (173.9 ypg), up from 10th the previous year (129.6 ypg).
A former Rebel player and assistant coach, Luke spent the previous four seasons as Duke's offensive coordinator/running game while coaching the offensive line. His line ranked among the ACC's top five in fewest sacks allowed throughout his tenure, including finishing third in 2009 and 2010.
Luke's 2010 offensive front helped Duke to its highest yards per game average since 1989 as Sean Renfree became the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for 3,000 or more yards in a single season. Nearly doubling its rushing totals from the previous year, the Blue Devil run game produced 19 touchdowns - Duke's highest total since 1995 - and the squad repeated that total again in 2011.
Under Luke's guidance, both guard Dave Harding and tackle Perry Simmons received Freshman All-America honors in 2010. In 2009, guard Brian Moore was a Freshman All-ACC pick by Sporting News. Guard Laken Tomlinson went on to be the 28th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Luke came to Duke following two seasons at Tennessee where he served as recruiting coordinator while coaching the tight ends and assisting with the offensive line. During his two-year stay (2006-07) in Knoxville, the Volunteers went 19-8 with an SEC Eastern Division championship and two appearances in the Outback Bowl.
A native of Gulfport, Mississippi, Luke lettered four seasons (1995-98) as a center at Ole Miss. A starter in 33 career games for the Rebels, he served as team captain in 1998 as Ole Miss posted a 7-5 ledger and defeated Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl. He was named the 1998 Ole Miss Most Valuable Senior by the Jackson (Miss.) Touchdown Club and twice earned Academic All-SEC honors.
Following his playing career, he served as a student assistant coach at Ole Miss in 1999, helping the Rebels to an 8-4 mark with regular-season wins against Auburn, South Carolina, LSU and Arkansas as well as a 27-25 triumph over Oklahoma in the Independence Bowl. He graduated in May 2000 with a degree in business administration.
Luke then spent two years (2000-01) coaching the offensive line at Murray State before returning to his alma mater to guide the Rebel tight ends and offensive line for four seasons (2002-05).
Luke is married to the former Ashley Grantham of Oxford, Mississippi, and the couple has two sons, Harrison and Cooper. His father, Tommy, was a defensive back at Ole Miss in the 1960s while his brother, Tom, quarterbacked the Rebels from 1989-91. Tom is also on the Ole Miss football staff as assistant athletics director for player development.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Luke is the Gospel for Ole Miss
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Sticks out like a sore thumb that there is no mention of the word "defense" in this announcement...
1250, clearly no need to include any reference to defense. OM hasn't included defense in their game plan for years now.
Going back to the good ole days of OM -keep it all within the family. Let the alumni have full run of the sidelines and facilities. Time moves on, and nothing changes.
Much deserved. Heart and loyalty go a long way in team development and growth. They did not need to start over.
Really?? After the preacher Freeze debacle you mentioned Gospel and Ole Miss in the same posting title??
Good choice under the circumstances. The magazine covers and press didn't sit well with us in reality. Redo from bottom up and enjoy. The games and the Grove are pleasant to attend.
Makes perfect sense. Pay little, get a sturdy, loyal coach until sanctions are over, then go for a big hire if needed. I'm not sure it'll be needed. Having multiple people turn you down while going for a big splash pre-sanctions is not a good look.
12:46, perhaps you've explained it before, but would you indulge me as to why you periodically post that listing?
Ole Miss red (crimson from Harvard) and blue (navy blue from Yale) now has the lowest paid head coach in the SEC. This is the same school which was humiliated before the A & M game by falling for a network version of Saturday Night Live (without Al Franken) that showed a zebra tent (reminiscent of a strip bar) with a chandelier and champaign fountain. I don't think Yale and Harvard act this pretentious. Either change your arrogance or change your colors. Maybe with the money wasted on this pretentious action, you can bring his pay up to others in the SEC.
I don't like Ole Miss but this makes good ole common sense. You're in a really bad position to make a long term big money hire but you need to keep the home fires burning in the short term. Everybody's relatively happy. Who knows? Luke may shock the world. I hope not, but he's got what we all want in life. He's got his shot.
Have you seen Luke's contract? I have a copy...
Ole Miss just padding the pocket of another cheating coach who will get a Show Cause once the sanctions are announced. They just taking care of another good ole boy at the taxpayers expense.
Buy some KY jelly guys .. the NCAA is going in dry.
WTH, 3:03, are you talking (babbling) about? You ramble (insanely) too much! The tents are privately funded, all in fun (you wouldn't understand), and have not a damn thing to do with a coach's salary. Move along!
"During his 24 years as a player and coach at the collegiate level, Luke has risen through the ranks while learning from a number of successful veteran coaches. He has worked alongside national champion Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and former Ole Miss head coach Tommy Tuberville, among others."
"Others"? I'm scratching my noggin over that one....oh yeah....old times there are soon forgotten looky way, looky way, looky way, Landshark fans.
Sanctions will apparently be as bad or worse than expected.
Scoop! Hugh Freeze quit because the mascot was changed to Land Shark (Stupid, Stupid) pick.
Matt Luke was the one who pushed the mascot.
KF - It appears that your egg nog recipe got out early. These posts are silly. Just like Dan (the former man) said, "this is the silly season."
"....among others." Why no mention of Freeze? All we got was '...Tuberville, among others'.
Luke has long been part of the thug recruitment and trng program at TSUN. Nothing will be different. See his weak-assed apology following the gift-game that Mullen handed him last Thursday.
The real problem with these 'junior wannabees' (like Freeze and Luke) is they will sell their soul to the devil at the very first opportunity and those opportunities come about seven days into the job when the big-money boys get your telephone number.
PS: When does he enroll in correspondence divinity school?
4;59, you sound like a very bitter person. Luke was not my first choice, but he is not mentioned anywhere in either NOA. He is clean. Both teams had players in the Egg Bowl who embarrassed themselves. Metcalf and Speakes from Ole Miss, Nick Fitzgerald flipped the bird at OM as he was carted from the field. Number94 from State pinched and threw elbows all night. The rivalry has become too bitter. MSUs part in the NCAA thing has taken it to a new level. After the penalties are released, some very interesting facts will come out about that. The game should be moved to mid season. Regarding this years game, Ole Miss just played a little harder than State. I give State credit that they never gave up. They fought hard to the end. They could have easily quit when OM was way ahead.
10:11 - I'm 4:59 whom you called 'bitter'. But, rather than dissect my opinion post, you launched off into the abyss with a bunch of unrelated bullshit. Anybody who is close to the program or has observed it minimally knows Luke is part and parcel of thug-development. If you're not part of it, they have no need for you. It's the business-model there. Yet you want to rattle on about the nonsense of moving the game to mid-season. You don't stop thuggery by reassigning their dorm rooms. You stop it by throwing them off the team, like Croom did.
They really overpaid. Who was going to hire Luke, particularly as a head coach? Nobody. They had no choice. Nobody else wanted the job. Literally.
Players already filing paper work to bolt to other programs.
Well paid thugs. They will continue to cheat. It is part of their culture; their dna.
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