Matt Luke out as Ole Miss head coach

While no official announcement has been made, according to multiple sources, Ole Miss has fired head football coach Matt Luke.

An announcement is imminent, according to those sources.

A team meeting has been called for tonight at 8 p.m. inside the Manning Center in which it is expected Luke will address the team for the final time.

Luke's firing comes on the heels of the Rebels completing a 4-8 season with a disappointing 21-20 loss to rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night. The game was marred by an embarrassing incident in which wide receiver Elijah Moore drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following a touchdown pass that pulled the Rebels within one point of tying the game with four seconds remaining. After the 15-yard penalty was enforced on the try-after, kicker Luke Logan missed the PAT from 35 yards out.

The incident, in which Ole Miss was ridiculed by the national media, was a bridge too far for the administration and the fan base from which large factions took to social media and other venues to express their want for change within the program. Many inside the fan base had been advocating for change well prior to the Thanksgiving night incident due to the Rebels' lack of success on the field.

All eyes now will focus on a coaching search which will devour the coming days. The early signing period for recruits in the 2020 class begins on Dec. 18, and the expectations logically should be for a new head coach to be named as soon as possible.

Luke completed a three-year stint as head coach at Ole Miss with an overall record of 15-21. Those wins came against programs with a combined winning percentage of .379.
Luke's record in Southeastern Conference games stands at 6-18. The team's SEC wins under Luke's watch came against the likes of Vanderbilt (2017), Kentucky (2017), Mississippi State (2017), Arkansas (2018), Arkansas (2019) and Vanderbilt (2019).

Ole Miss was plagued by a series of close losses this season, starting with a poor performance in a 15-10 setback in the season opener at Memphis. The team came close in setbacks to Cal (28-20), Texas A&M (24-17), Auburn (20-14) and, of course, Mississippi State (21-20).

There was also plenty of criticism and concern regarding the quarterback position and how redshirt freshman Matt Corral and true freshman John Rhys Plumlee were employed. Corral, the better passer of the two, was benched after he suffered bruised ribs in a Sept. 21, loss to Cal. Plumlee, the better runner, then started the final eight games of the season, going on to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

The season ended last Thursday night, however, as it began...With Corral on the field leading the offense, while Plumlee watched from the sidelines. The management of the quarterback position has led to speculation that Corral, a former four-star recruit and high school All-American quarterback, might enter the NCAA transfer portal in the off-season.
Seven Ole Miss players entered the transfer portal in the middle of the season and at least three walk-ons left the team, as well.

Many Ole Miss fans thought Luke's hire was illegitimate when he was named the permanent head coach following the 2017 Egg Bowl and continuously voiced their displeasure throughout his tenure.

Luke's Ole Miss bio began with, "Matt Luke was born a Rebel." No words could have been more true. Luke walked on at Ole Miss following a career at Gulfport (Miss.) High School and left as the Rebels starting center. His father and brother were standout players at Ole Miss and his brother, Tom Luke, served in a support role on his coaching staff.
Following a coaching career with stops at Murray State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Duke, Luke returned home to his alma mater in 2012 to serve as Hugh Freeze's offensive line coach. Freeze later added run game coordinator to his title and it was Luke who replaced Freeze as the interim head coach for the Rebels in the late summer of 2017.

In that interim season as the head coach, Luke led the Rebels to a 6-6 record and a 31-28 win in the 2017 Egg Bowl, which was largely responsible for the interim tag being removed from his name.

Including the 2018 season in which Ole Miss finished 5-7, Luke led the program through the two seasons of NCAA probation placed on it for actions which occurred under Freeze's watch.

SOURCE: Johnson, David. "Matt Luke out as Ole Miss head coach." OMSpirit.com - 247 Sports, 1 December 2019, https://247sports.com/college/ole-miss/Article/Matt-Luke-out-as-Ole-Miss-head-coach-139623918/