Ole Miss Football: 5 takeaways from Rebels’ 2017 season

1. Matt Luke holds the future of this program in his hands

Signing Luke to a full-time head coaching contract came as a shock to a lot of college football fans. Yet, what he was able to do with the Rebels this year proved how good of a coach he can be. Ole Miss also finished the year winning three of the final four games. The Rebels also nearly took down the Texas A&M Aggies.

Ole Miss signed Luke to a four-year contract, worth a minimum of $3 million each season. That $3 million figure will increase each year as well. By the stretch run of Luke’s contract, Ole Miss’s sanctions will be gone and he’ll have an opportunity to get them back into contention again.

It was not too long ago that Hugh Freeze had the Rebels contending among the best in the SEC and winning the Sugar Bowl. Yet, it’s going to take a lot to get the program back to that level. The rebuild starts with Luke continuing the momentum he built at the end of the regular season.

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He has the pieces in place, between talents like Ta’amu, Brown, and Speaks to get this program going in the right direction in 2018. No matter what happens to this team, it will ride on the shoulders of Luke as the tenured head coach.