SEC Football: Power ranking every coach in the SEC

12. Matt Luke and Ole Miss.

Ole Miss is in a bit of a pickle. Okay, they are in a lot of a pickle. In January of 2016,  the NCAA charged Ole Miss with numerous recruiting violations. An investigation turned up evidence that Ole Miss employees and boosters arranged numerous “impermissible benefits” for players. In February of 2017, after star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil admitted taking money from one of Freeze’s assistants in his NFL Draft interview, Ole Miss withdrew itself from bowl contention for the coming season.

In July of 2017, former Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt sued for defamation. As part of the investigation, Hugh Freeze’s phone records were looked into and calls to a female escort service were found. Even though he tried to sell this as a mistake, a disturbing pattern of calls forced him to resign. Matt Luke became the interim head coach for the 2017 season.

Now, Luke’s interim tag has been removed and the NCAA has handed down it’s sanctions. It includes a two year post season ban that only applies to years the team would be eligible for a bowl game. It also includes a hefty fine and limitations on scholarships.

Luke finished the 2017 season 6-6, not entirely good but not entirely bad either. He lands at number 12 in my power rankings due to the amount of questions surrounding the program in the coming years. It will be interesting to see what he can do with the program.