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Ole Miss Football: What We Want To See More Of From Spring Practice

By Daniel Skipper

OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 28: Head Coach Matt Luke of the Ole Miss Rebels watches his team warm up before a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Hemingway Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 38-37. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 28: Head Coach Matt Luke of the Ole Miss Rebels watches his team warm up before a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Hemingway Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 38-37. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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OXFORD, MS – OCTOBER 21: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels reacts during the second half of a game against the LSU Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS – OCTOBER 21: Head coach Matt Luke of the Mississippi Rebels reacts during the second half of a game against the LSU Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Coaching Staff Focal Points

Naturally the coaching staff is always going to be under the very watchful eye of every Ole Miss football fan. Last year was indeed a peculiar year for the program with everything which led up to Matt Luke being named interim head coach. Of course, as well as last season turned out it could have been better. However, there were distractions and issues which were used as excuses by many fans for the 6-6 season.

Looking back we should all be pretty happy with the 6-6 season and where we are headed with this staff. I know many Rebels fans are optimistic about the future of the Ole Miss program at this point. However, there were a few issues we want to see corrected before the 2018 season. There were a number of games where our staff was simply out-coached. There were also numerous early occasions on both sides of the ball of poor play calling.

Of course, much of this did get better as the season progressed so it indicates there were corrections already being made. This is very good considering this is a remarkably sound staff at every position and the staff actually only lost one member and added two more. That shows the dedication by Matt Luke as the head coach to constantly improve and not settle.

Under The Microscope

Naturally with three new coaches on the staff we will be watching to see the improvement they bring to each position. Linebackers and defensive backs are an area of concern already and we have to see these positions get better this spring. With the talent level of these two position groups it’s difficult to imagine the right coach not getting their very best on the field.

Besides the new coaches there is also Freddie Roach the defensive line coach. He is coming into his second season and has a very talented group of lineman. An improvement would be nice this spring but Marquis Haynes and Breeland Speaks will be hard to replace. At least he has a  decent depth chart to work with heading thru this spring and into the 2018 season.

Of course, all of the above basically brings us to the next issues, coordinators. Don’t get me wrong, I really like our coordinators. Anyway lets begin with the DC Wesley McGriff. I really like coach McGriff but honestly I really expected more from the Rebels defense than they delivered last season. Like every other aspect of Ole Miss football they did get better later in the season. This spring we want to see a resurgence of the Landshark D. If we have to live with the Landshark as our mascot we need to at least have the defense to back it up.

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