Same here. I don't even care if he starts winning. I will not support him because his brand of football is just not fun to watch at all.

I am going to say this out loud but do not take this as me backing luke.  Luke's first year I was impressed with and gave him credit for winning 6 games under the crap storm that was going on. That was the only reason I gave him slack.  That goodwill was used up and then some last year.  To win here at Ole Miss, you must have an edge.  You must have a swagger people can identify.  Luke does not swagger. He has shallow enthusiasm.  He (hold your nose), loves Ole Miss and is excited about running the program he has deep ties to.   But He does not have swagger or anything tangible to hang his hat on.

When you look back at his coaching tenure.  He does have a large number of successful individual players who have gone on and played in the NFL.  When you look at his productive units on the field, they have under performed in every year I can every think of.  

But back to Luke as a Coach, after year one and then winning 5 games the first 60% of the season, I assumed he would at least maintain .500 which is decent considering what we have gone through. However, these 3 things destroyed any credibility Luke had with me. 

First, that f*)&^@*((ing defense.  Holy crap that was the worst damned defense I have ever seen.  Not personnel, but the scheme and coaching.We did well on 1st, 2nd down, but 3rd down we fell apart.  Every series every dang game.  It only got worse as the season went on and the fact McGriff remained on the the staff come game 9,10 pissed me off beyond belief.  Any HC worth a dang would have fired McGriff but Luke hung with him until the last cluster freak of a game.  And don't give me the "who would take over" crap because we retained 95% of the assistant coaches.  If you were unhappy with the assistants then they should have been bumped as well, but they are all here. So why not fire McGriff and put in someone temporarily.  Keeping McGriff killed moral and it hurt recruiting.  It also gives people the justified fear that Luke is not about winning, he is about feelings.  I don't think you have to have zero tolerance, but you are making millions and you are trying to build a winning season.. Luke has shown himself to leave points and wins on the field rather than do what it takes to win.

second issue, this is not Luke's first game as HC.  This is year 3.  Year 3 of a 10 year run as a coach here.  He knows the culture. He has had a huge hand in the day to day of this program so he is not getting a feel for what is going on, he has been apart of what is going on. This year, there has to be improvement and after last weekend, after him being so confident in his talk about "knowing how to fix" our issues, it is time to produce.  Week one, we took 4 steps back on offense and 1 step forward on defense.  That equaled a loss in a game that should have been a solid win.

lastly, and this is purely based on the impression i get while watching him talk to the press.  He is just ignorantly optimistic.  I use this term because i am ignorantly optimistic where I look at the positive when i can. However, I am not running a major power 5 program with expectations.  He just runs his mouth to dang much and no where do i get in his demeanor where he is not happy with our current circumstance.  He seems to be content with our current situation and it just seems he is fine with baby steps and not challenging this team to do better and play harder.  I did see one actual physical play last week but our DB dang near knocked himself out when laid that good lick on the carrier.  This team does not have an edge, it does not play physical and it does not play with a chip on it's shoulder.  Because their coach is not demanding it nor is that his DNA as a coach.  He can make up all the cute sayings and good intentions, Popsicles and cutting practice early for doing a good job.  But you bet your damned ass that top 10 programs don't pull that crap.  They coach, the challenge and they expect more.  Luke just seems to be settling for good enough and after proving you can compete for championships here at Ole MIss and after being tired of being attacked by the SEC, NCAA for years, I no longer want good enough, i want to get back at all the injustice that we have had to endure.  I want the leader of my program to show an ounce of anger at where we are at and demand more.  I don't see that from Luke and the fact the university tied their wagon to him and loaded up his contract based on zero results, our administration seems to buy in to this same trajectory and good lord, that is just maddening. 

The dragging rear on the chancellor hire is equally as maddening.  We can't hold luke accountable until we get an Chancellor and then an AD.  the fact this search is as listless as our offenses' performance and that just adds to my frustration. 

Sooper_Rebel wrote:

Mob, you nailed it and I can probably sum it up. Luke is a laid back guy. He is a laid back coach. Although this management style works in business, it does not work in sports... at all... ever. Athletes need that spark. If you have a head coach that meanders everything and never shows emotion or fire, then the athletes are never going to show fire and are going to play laid back and not inspired. The team takes on the personality of the leader and that is exactly what our team has done. 

Luke - probably a great friend but not a great coach.

Everyone talks about Freeze's ego as a bad thing but if you look around, it's the guys with the oversized egos that make great coaches. We need another ego-maniac and possibly even a jerk. Those are the guys that win.

👍 You're right. And it's going to be very interesting to see if the AD makes the next coach keep Luke on the staff.