Matt Luke addressed the Ole Miss fan base in a press conference on Monday afternoon, opening with a passionate statement on the future of the program.
“We will win here,” Luke said. “Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to take a lot of hard work? Absolutely. But for the first time since 2014, I can walk into a living room and not talk about bowl bans or sanctions. I can sell everything that’s great about Ole Miss. And everybody that’s in this room and everybody I’m talking to knows what makes Ole Miss special, and that’s family.”
Luke faces many important decisions in the upcoming months. With the announcement of the firing of former defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff on Friday, Luke will move forward with someone of his choice in the position next year.
“This is the Southeastern Conference, and you have to have somebody that can stand in front of a room and command the defense,” Luke said. “He can capture their hearts and their minds, but also is schematically very, very competent.”
Recruiting has been a main focus for Luke and his staff since the Rebels’ season ended Thursday evening. With the coming season serving as the first during Luke’s tenure that Ole Miss will not face any NCAA sanctions, the staff hopes to take advantage of the opportunity this recruiting season provides.
“(Our recruiting plan is) just to sell our message and the family atmosphere. … I’m really excited (about) the direction this is going,” Luke said. “We don’t have long until the early signing period, and that’s going to be huge for us.”
The early signing period for high school football players runs from Dec. 19 to Dec. 21, and Luke wants to sign as many players as possible to take advantage of every scholarship available to the football program.
Luke also discussed the many underclassmen who have professional prospects and the possibility of them declaring for the NFL Draft in the coming weeks.
“These are young men that are going to be Ole Miss Rebels for life, and we want them to do what’s best for them and their families.” Luke said. “I met with every single underclassman and their families on Friday after the game. We sat down, we went through all the pros and cons and just made sure they had all the information.”
Luke addressed rumors about offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s future. Longo has reportedly been a potential candidate for other head coaching positions.
“When you have back-to-back top-10 offenses, the coordinators are going to get looks, and he is getting looks,” Luke said.
In the event Longo stays at Ole Miss, Luke expressed confidence in his future in Oxford.
“I think we’re really good on offense. We had two top-10 offenses. Are there things we have to fix in the red zone? Absolutely,” Luke said. “But again, we can get that fixed.”
