Fansided

5 candidates to replace Matt Luke at Ole Miss

By Brad Berreman

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - OCTOBER 05: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels reacts during a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - OCTOBER 05: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels reacts during a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images /

4. Hugh Freeze, Liberty head coach

Yes, Freeze resigned from Ole Miss in disgrace after he used a school-issued cell phone to contact escort services. And yes, the NCAA ramifications of misdeeds during his tenure as head coach helped bring a two-year bowl ban for the program. But culminating in 10 wins and a Sugar Bowl appearance in 2015, Freeze’s 27-12 run during the middle three years of his five-year tenure remains an untouched success level in the history of Ole Miss’ football program.

After a couple of years out, Freeze is in his first season as head coach at Liberty and has led the Flames to a 7-5 record with a bowl game to come. So it’s been a reasonably soft landing for him, as the program tries to gain footing as an FBS Independent right now. Perhaps he’ll want to remain off the radar in Lynchburg for at least a few more years.

Any remaining sting of how his first stint ended, and what followed in terms of what Luke had to lead the program out of, has surely dissipated some now. Freeze surely learned from his mistakes too, and isn’t necessarily destined to repeat them. It will definitely come with some controversy and public questioning, but in name of getting back on a winning track, a reunion with Freeze is something Ole Miss fans and the school administration should get behind and the idea has to be entertained on some level.

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