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The Ole Miss football program will be looking for a new start after firing head coach Matt Luke over the weekend. However, they could also be looking to revamp the roster after reports that multiple members of the team are “furious” with the decision to fire their head coach.
Luke was fired on Sunday after a 4-8 season that dropped his overall record at Ole Miss to 15-21 in three years.
When players learned about Luke’s firing at a team meeting, it was reportedly explosive with nearly a dozen of players storming out of the meeting and “half” of the Ole Miss players considering a move from the program.
Nick Suss of the Clarion-Ledger was among the first to shed light on the discord.
USA Today went on to expand on the reports.
After the meeting concluded, junior offensive lineman Chandler Tuitt said “half the team” is talking about leaving. Tuitt said if the entire coaching staff is dismissed along with Luke, he doesn’t think many players will stay with the team.
Ole Miss said in a statement that they made the decision to move on from Luke because he failed to live up to the standards of the program.
“After evaluating the overall trajectory of our football program, we did not see enough momentum on the field and determined a change is necessary in order for our student-athletes to compete at the highest level,” Ole Miss AD Keith Carter said. “While improvements were evident in certain aspects of the program, we are judged ultimately by our record, and, unfortunately, we did not meet the standard of success that we expect from our program.
“We will always be grateful to Coach Luke for his leadership, particularly from a recruiting, academic and overall culture standpoint. At the same time, winning is important, and we know that we can compete for championships at Ole Miss.”
It will be interesting to see how much the tension boils over and whether a mass flock of players leave the program.
