Ole Miss Football: Grove Grinder, It Just Doesn’t Get Any Easier

This was a tough season for anybody associated with Ole Miss football and now many Rebels fans are wondering when it will really end?

The actual 2018 Ole Miss football season may have ended Thanksgiving night with the ugly loss to Miss State but the agony is still very active for Rebels fans. If a 5-7 end result wasn’t bad enough there is also the coaching carousel which has struck Ole Miss wide open. The day after the Egg Bowl Ole Miss parted way with former DC Wesley McGriff and the hunt was on for a decent replacement.

Over the next two weeks we waited and debated over who we would want to see as the new DC at Ole Miss. Over those two weeks there was also the expectation we might have to look at hiring a new offensive coordinator as well. Coach Phil Longo was known to have applied for the head coaching job at North Texas. The NTU job may have fallen thru but we knew Longo was hunting on a path out of Oxford.

So after two weeks we finally have Mike MacIntyre as the new Rebels DC and now coach Matt Luke and Ross Bjork are looking for a new offensive coordinator. This really didn’t come as surprise for most Ole Miss football fans. Just when we believed things could get better there is always the “We Are Ole Miss” factor which plays into everything.

Against The Odds

Ole Miss Rebels

If you are true Ole Miss fan then I’m sure you can agree when I say the Rebels are fighting against the odds. After a 2018 postseason ban and a 5-7 season which saw some very bad calls in the SEC the Rebels are now having to play the coaching carousel and it isn’t pretty.

Every season we see coaches jump from one job to the next and after a 5-7 season we can expect coaching changes. However, it doesn’t make it very easy for Ole Miss football fans and we expect better both on the field and the on the sidelines.

While many of us may not agree on the selections which we will end up with you have to imagine we are already far better off. This hasn’t been an easy ride for fans but imagine how bad it is for coach Matt Luke and AD Ross Bjork, not to mention the players and other staff members.

It’s really a difficult task which has been set before Luke and Bjork. We know they have the Ole Miss football program in their best interests and want to make the best possible hires they can for the Rebels. However, there are quite a few factors at play when it comes to the process and timing may be the toughest obstacle.

So We Wait

Thankfully Ole Miss has put the hunt for the new DC behind them and Mike MacIntyre can focus on recruiting and the future of the Rebels defense. Yet still we are left with the task of finding a new offensive coordinator. Some of us may be thinking we need to make a hire fast while others believe the longer it takes the better. No time is ever a good time to be replacing staff members and with football left to be played it could be hot minute before a new OC is named.

Thanks to our friends at OMSpirit we all now have an idea of who the candidate pool contains or who may be front-runners for the OC job. While it has been speculated former Ole Miss OC Dan Werner might have the lead in the OC race there are other equally as impressive names. The OMSpirit list includes Kendal Briles who is currently the OC/QB coach for Houston, Larry Fedora who was head coach at North Carolina this season and Will Hall who is OC at Tulane.

Can we imagine a new OC within the next few days? Highly doubtful but not impossible depending on the availability of coaches. However, the longer the process takes there are sure to be more names which surface as candidates. The best thing we can do as Rebels fans is be patient and have faith in coach Matt Luke and Ross Bjork to make a great hire. It isn’t going to be easy but Ole Miss football will be back on top once again and soon. Hotty Toddy!