SI.com did a look today at the six new head coaches in the SEC. Here's an excerpt at the capsule of the opposing head coach in the Sept. 1 opener:
OLE MISS: MATT LUKE
Prior job: Ole Miss interim head coach
Replacing: Hugh Freeze
The Rebels’ decision to remove the interim tag from Matt Luke was an underwhelming conclusion to a job search that included mentions of coveted candidates like South Florida head coach Charlie Strong and Florida State head coach Willie Taggart. Luke had no experience as a Division I head coach prior to taking over in the wake of Hugh Freeze’s disgraced resignation last July, and it was difficult to see how settling for a continuity hire in the wake of a 6–6 season with a 3–5 SEC record would move the Rebels any closer to their Freeze-era peak of 2014–15.
Ole Miss almost definitely won’t get there this season, but it could be one of the most entertaining teams in the Power 5. Senior Jordan Ta’amu acquitted himself well at quarterback after transfer Shea Patterson went down with a knee injury last October, and he’ll have a dangerous crop of pass catchers at his disposal led by projected first-round NFL draft pick A.J. Brown, plus another projected first-rounder protecting his blind side in junior left tackle Greg Little.
The Rebels are probably going to have a hard time consistently getting stops against SEC opponents—the first of which is reigning national champ Alabama in Oxford on Sept. 15—but those same opponents are probably going to have a hard time figuring out how to slow down Ta’amu and Brown in Phil Longo’s up-tempo offense.
OLE MISS: MATT LUKE
Prior job: Ole Miss interim head coach
Replacing: Hugh Freeze
The Rebels’ decision to remove the interim tag from Matt Luke was an underwhelming conclusion to a job search that included mentions of coveted candidates like South Florida head coach Charlie Strong and Florida State head coach Willie Taggart. Luke had no experience as a Division I head coach prior to taking over in the wake of Hugh Freeze’s disgraced resignation last July, and it was difficult to see how settling for a continuity hire in the wake of a 6–6 season with a 3–5 SEC record would move the Rebels any closer to their Freeze-era peak of 2014–15.
Ole Miss almost definitely won’t get there this season, but it could be one of the most entertaining teams in the Power 5. Senior Jordan Ta’amu acquitted himself well at quarterback after transfer Shea Patterson went down with a knee injury last October, and he’ll have a dangerous crop of pass catchers at his disposal led by projected first-round NFL draft pick A.J. Brown, plus another projected first-rounder protecting his blind side in junior left tackle Greg Little.
The Rebels are probably going to have a hard time consistently getting stops against SEC opponents—the first of which is reigning national champ Alabama in Oxford on Sept. 15—but those same opponents are probably going to have a hard time figuring out how to slow down Ta’amu and Brown in Phil Longo’s up-tempo offense.
