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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Luke Press Conference
11/27/2018 | Football
Head Football Coach Looks Ahead to Offseason
Ole Miss Football Head Coach Matt Luke met with the media Tuesday to recap the season and also look ahead to the Rebels' offseason. The full transcript can be found below.
Opening statement…
"I appreciate you all coming out this afternoon. And I know you all want to ask me some questions and recap the season but before we did that, I just wanted to share a message to our fans."
"Over the last few years, this program has been through a lot and the people that are the most important, our players and our fans, they didn't sign up for any of it. You all don't deserve any of this. I appreciate the fact you'll have high expectations, but nobody's got more expectations than I do. Every time I walk on that field I expect to win. I know exactly what it takes to get us out of this. When I came here in 1995, we were on probation. I was a team captain in '97 and '98 when we were coming out of it. I know what it takes to turn programs around. When I went to Tennessee in 2006, I was part of a turnaround there. I went to Duke in 2008, and I was part of a one of the biggest turnarounds in college football, and then we did it again here in 2012. We will win here. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to take a lot of hard work? Absolutely, but for the first time since 2014 I can walk into a living room and not talk about bowl bans or sanctions. I can sell everything that's great about Ole Miss. Everybody in this room and everybody that I'm talking to knows what makes Ole Miss special, and that's family. It's more important now more than ever that this Ole Miss family moves forward together, but we will get this done and we will win here."
On Phil Longo pursuing other jobs…
"When you have back-to-back top 10 offenses, the coordinators are going to get looks and he is getting looks. I think that's natural when you have really good offenses. You have coordinators interviewing for head jobs."
"We're really good on offense. We had two top 10 offenses. Are there things we got to fix in the red zone? Absolutely. And again, I know what good red zone offense looks like, and I'm going to fix that. I love Luke Logan, but I want him kicking extra points not field goals. We can get that fixed. There's a lot of people that struggle getting to the red zone. We have a good offense, but we got to fix the red zone and we will."
On emotions during opening statement…
"That's me, and it's who I am. I'm an emotional person, probably my biggest strength and my biggest weakness, but it's who I am and I think it's important to show that. When you go through tough times it's important for me to stand up here and be positive and to keep our team together, but I want our fans to understand and know what's going to happen here as long as we stick together and keep working."
On coaching staff decisions and a new defensive coordinator…
"You're always evaluating. My focus right now is on finding the best defensive coordinator for this program and for recruiting. Recruiting is the lifeblood of this program and finding the right fit at defensive coordinator, and that's where my focus is. We don't have long until the early signing period, and that's going to be huge for us."
On recruit's reactions in homes the last few days…
"I can't tell you how refreshing it is. I've been there Sunday night, Monday night and earlier this morning. I'm in homes and for the first time, I can sell Ole Miss. I don't have to sit there and defend, 'well Coach Luke, so-and-so said that you all couldn't go to a bowl game this year and then this and that.' All you have to do is sell Ole Miss and sell our future, and again our future recruiting class is going really good and people see opportunities to come in and play. It's just really refreshing to be able to sit down and not have to worry about that and trying to always defending yourself. You can just go sell Ole Miss."
On hiring a new defensive coordinator with the early signing period coming up…
"It certainly raises the level of difficulty up, but you can't put that in front of finding the right person. So, I think I have to find the right fit if it works out where I can get them before the signing day. That's obviously best, but I'm not going to put that ahead of finding the right fit."
On recruiting the Memphis area…
"One of the first things I did when I took over here was I brought in Tyler Siskey. His approach to recruiting, the way we're doing things is so much more efficient, and I love that it's paying big time dividends. There're guys in Memphis right now that we're targeting and going after, but I love what Tyler Siskey is doing and I hope it pays off this year."
On the right fit for defensive coordinator…
"I think you have to get in front of people and talk to them because I want somebody that's called it, that's experienced, and they have a plan but that's not just it. This is the Southeastern Conference, and you have to have somebody that can stand in front of a room and command the defense. They can capture their hearts and their minds and also schematically be very confident. It's the right fit, it's not just one or the other. It's the right fit and that's what I'm looking for."
On other staff changes…
"Right now, because of the early signing period, all I can focus on right now is finding the right fit at defensive coordinator and this 2019 recruiting class. That's where my focus is right now, that's all I have time for."
On meeting with underclassmen about the NFL Draft…
"Because all of the agents start hovering around, I met with every single underclassman and their families on Friday after the game. We sat down and went through all the pros and cons and just made sure they had all the information. These are young men who are going to be Ole Miss Rebels for life, and we want them to do what's best for them and their families. So we'll try to advise them and give them what we think is best and make a collective decision. I'm aware of D.K. (Metcalf), but other than that, there are still people who are going through all the decision-making processes."
On recruiting plans…
"Go like crazy. I'm seeing 46 kids in three weeks and just to sell our message, family atmosphere. The narratives in the homes is, 'Coach Luke, we're so impressed at how everyone fought and stayed together.' People see opportunities, and I'm just really excited at the direction this is headed."
On the talent pool for the new defensive coordinator…
"You have several defensive linemen coming back and your best corner coming back from an injury, so there's a lot of pieces there, and you can infuse that with a lot of young talent. That's what I'm excited about. Over 60 percent of our team next year will be freshmen and sophomores, so we're going to build this thing and build it with great players. Like I said, we've done it before, and we're going do it again. We've just got to go out there and recruit and build this thing the right way."
On underestimating the impact of transfers…
"I don't know that I underestimated it, but it probably showed its head more with all the injuries we had. You've got nine guys to transfer and nine guys get hurt, now your down 18 instead of down nine, so now you're playing maybe some freshmen that aren't quite ready. I think because the amount of injuries that we had, for the year-ending injuries, I think probably the depth showed up a little bit more than I wanted it to."
On the SEC announcement regarding the Egg Bowl…
"It's a passionate game, and it means a lot to everybody, but nobody wants that. I think Ross (Bjork) can address that. I think he's going to the SEC office at some point to talk about it, and he can address it, but obviously there's a right way to handle things."
On the December signing period…
"We have to sign at least seven that way we can use all of our initials, so we can count seven guys forward and sign up to 32. We can go over 85, but we have to sign at least seven, so that's obviously the goal."
On the amount of players in the 2019 class who will have to play as freshmen…
"That's a great question, but it's one you don't really know until guys show up and start playing. You have guys that come in on reputation, but you always have a couple of surprises that come in that you don't think that they are quite ready, but then they show up and they are really good. I think there are some opportunities for young guys to come in and play, and we're going to sell that on the recruiting trail, but you don't know that until they come in here and start practice."
On evaluating other areas…
"My focus right now is on the defensive coordinator and on recruiting, but you never stop evaluating. You're evaluating this every day and in every phase from strength and conditioning to the training room. Whatever it is, you're evaluating every day—academics, what can we do to help these kids off the field and grow in football and life? You're evaluating everything every day, but right now, my focus is on finding a defensive coordinator and recruiting."
On selling Ole Miss to top prospects against other top-flight programs…
"Well I can't speak specifically on players, but what you can sell is relationships, family, making an impact – a group of young men coming in together and saying, 'Hey, we're going to go get this thing done together. I'm going to come here to be special and build something.'"
On the rivalry with Mississippi State…
"It's an emotional game, and everybody knows that. The teams do take on the personalities of their coach. I felt like, up until the fight, everything was pretty calm. Then emotions flared. To me it's not about this or that, it's about what caused it. You've got to look at what caused it. I'm not into generalities, you've got to look at what caused the actual fight. I think that's the most important part."
On D.K. Metcalf going to NFL…
"I met with every junior that had the opportunity. I think his was a little bit different. The reason it came out earlier is because he's been hurt. He's had a lot of time to sit and think about it with his family with his injury. I don't want to comment for him, but this was something that he's been looking forward to since he was little, and a dream come true, and he sees this as his opportunity."
On pitching to draft-eligible juniors in the same way as prospects…
"It's not a pitch. We are building real relationships, and you want what's best for that family. Obviously, you would love for those guys to come back and help you in this program, but in the end, these are people that you've got five-year relationships with. In the end, you want what's best for them and their family."
On Matt Corral…
"Matt Corral is a talented and competitive young man, and I'm excited as heck to build this team around him."
Opening statement…
"I appreciate you all coming out this afternoon. And I know you all want to ask me some questions and recap the season but before we did that, I just wanted to share a message to our fans."
"Over the last few years, this program has been through a lot and the people that are the most important, our players and our fans, they didn't sign up for any of it. You all don't deserve any of this. I appreciate the fact you'll have high expectations, but nobody's got more expectations than I do. Every time I walk on that field I expect to win. I know exactly what it takes to get us out of this. When I came here in 1995, we were on probation. I was a team captain in '97 and '98 when we were coming out of it. I know what it takes to turn programs around. When I went to Tennessee in 2006, I was part of a turnaround there. I went to Duke in 2008, and I was part of a one of the biggest turnarounds in college football, and then we did it again here in 2012. We will win here. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to take a lot of hard work? Absolutely, but for the first time since 2014 I can walk into a living room and not talk about bowl bans or sanctions. I can sell everything that's great about Ole Miss. Everybody in this room and everybody that I'm talking to knows what makes Ole Miss special, and that's family. It's more important now more than ever that this Ole Miss family moves forward together, but we will get this done and we will win here."
On Phil Longo pursuing other jobs…
"When you have back-to-back top 10 offenses, the coordinators are going to get looks and he is getting looks. I think that's natural when you have really good offenses. You have coordinators interviewing for head jobs."
"We're really good on offense. We had two top 10 offenses. Are there things we got to fix in the red zone? Absolutely. And again, I know what good red zone offense looks like, and I'm going to fix that. I love Luke Logan, but I want him kicking extra points not field goals. We can get that fixed. There's a lot of people that struggle getting to the red zone. We have a good offense, but we got to fix the red zone and we will."
On emotions during opening statement…
"That's me, and it's who I am. I'm an emotional person, probably my biggest strength and my biggest weakness, but it's who I am and I think it's important to show that. When you go through tough times it's important for me to stand up here and be positive and to keep our team together, but I want our fans to understand and know what's going to happen here as long as we stick together and keep working."
On coaching staff decisions and a new defensive coordinator…
"You're always evaluating. My focus right now is on finding the best defensive coordinator for this program and for recruiting. Recruiting is the lifeblood of this program and finding the right fit at defensive coordinator, and that's where my focus is. We don't have long until the early signing period, and that's going to be huge for us."
On recruit's reactions in homes the last few days…
"I can't tell you how refreshing it is. I've been there Sunday night, Monday night and earlier this morning. I'm in homes and for the first time, I can sell Ole Miss. I don't have to sit there and defend, 'well Coach Luke, so-and-so said that you all couldn't go to a bowl game this year and then this and that.' All you have to do is sell Ole Miss and sell our future, and again our future recruiting class is going really good and people see opportunities to come in and play. It's just really refreshing to be able to sit down and not have to worry about that and trying to always defending yourself. You can just go sell Ole Miss."
On hiring a new defensive coordinator with the early signing period coming up…
"It certainly raises the level of difficulty up, but you can't put that in front of finding the right person. So, I think I have to find the right fit if it works out where I can get them before the signing day. That's obviously best, but I'm not going to put that ahead of finding the right fit."
On recruiting the Memphis area…
"One of the first things I did when I took over here was I brought in Tyler Siskey. His approach to recruiting, the way we're doing things is so much more efficient, and I love that it's paying big time dividends. There're guys in Memphis right now that we're targeting and going after, but I love what Tyler Siskey is doing and I hope it pays off this year."
On the right fit for defensive coordinator…
"I think you have to get in front of people and talk to them because I want somebody that's called it, that's experienced, and they have a plan but that's not just it. This is the Southeastern Conference, and you have to have somebody that can stand in front of a room and command the defense. They can capture their hearts and their minds and also schematically be very confident. It's the right fit, it's not just one or the other. It's the right fit and that's what I'm looking for."
On other staff changes…
"Right now, because of the early signing period, all I can focus on right now is finding the right fit at defensive coordinator and this 2019 recruiting class. That's where my focus is right now, that's all I have time for."
On meeting with underclassmen about the NFL Draft…
"Because all of the agents start hovering around, I met with every single underclassman and their families on Friday after the game. We sat down and went through all the pros and cons and just made sure they had all the information. These are young men who are going to be Ole Miss Rebels for life, and we want them to do what's best for them and their families. So we'll try to advise them and give them what we think is best and make a collective decision. I'm aware of D.K. (Metcalf), but other than that, there are still people who are going through all the decision-making processes."
On recruiting plans…
"Go like crazy. I'm seeing 46 kids in three weeks and just to sell our message, family atmosphere. The narratives in the homes is, 'Coach Luke, we're so impressed at how everyone fought and stayed together.' People see opportunities, and I'm just really excited at the direction this is headed."
On the talent pool for the new defensive coordinator…
"You have several defensive linemen coming back and your best corner coming back from an injury, so there's a lot of pieces there, and you can infuse that with a lot of young talent. That's what I'm excited about. Over 60 percent of our team next year will be freshmen and sophomores, so we're going to build this thing and build it with great players. Like I said, we've done it before, and we're going do it again. We've just got to go out there and recruit and build this thing the right way."
On underestimating the impact of transfers…
"I don't know that I underestimated it, but it probably showed its head more with all the injuries we had. You've got nine guys to transfer and nine guys get hurt, now your down 18 instead of down nine, so now you're playing maybe some freshmen that aren't quite ready. I think because the amount of injuries that we had, for the year-ending injuries, I think probably the depth showed up a little bit more than I wanted it to."
On the SEC announcement regarding the Egg Bowl…
"It's a passionate game, and it means a lot to everybody, but nobody wants that. I think Ross (Bjork) can address that. I think he's going to the SEC office at some point to talk about it, and he can address it, but obviously there's a right way to handle things."
On the December signing period…
"We have to sign at least seven that way we can use all of our initials, so we can count seven guys forward and sign up to 32. We can go over 85, but we have to sign at least seven, so that's obviously the goal."
On the amount of players in the 2019 class who will have to play as freshmen…
"That's a great question, but it's one you don't really know until guys show up and start playing. You have guys that come in on reputation, but you always have a couple of surprises that come in that you don't think that they are quite ready, but then they show up and they are really good. I think there are some opportunities for young guys to come in and play, and we're going to sell that on the recruiting trail, but you don't know that until they come in here and start practice."
On evaluating other areas…
"My focus right now is on the defensive coordinator and on recruiting, but you never stop evaluating. You're evaluating this every day and in every phase from strength and conditioning to the training room. Whatever it is, you're evaluating every day—academics, what can we do to help these kids off the field and grow in football and life? You're evaluating everything every day, but right now, my focus is on finding a defensive coordinator and recruiting."
On selling Ole Miss to top prospects against other top-flight programs…
"Well I can't speak specifically on players, but what you can sell is relationships, family, making an impact – a group of young men coming in together and saying, 'Hey, we're going to go get this thing done together. I'm going to come here to be special and build something.'"
On the rivalry with Mississippi State…
"It's an emotional game, and everybody knows that. The teams do take on the personalities of their coach. I felt like, up until the fight, everything was pretty calm. Then emotions flared. To me it's not about this or that, it's about what caused it. You've got to look at what caused it. I'm not into generalities, you've got to look at what caused the actual fight. I think that's the most important part."
On D.K. Metcalf going to NFL…
"I met with every junior that had the opportunity. I think his was a little bit different. The reason it came out earlier is because he's been hurt. He's had a lot of time to sit and think about it with his family with his injury. I don't want to comment for him, but this was something that he's been looking forward to since he was little, and a dream come true, and he sees this as his opportunity."
On pitching to draft-eligible juniors in the same way as prospects…
"It's not a pitch. We are building real relationships, and you want what's best for that family. Obviously, you would love for those guys to come back and help you in this program, but in the end, these are people that you've got five-year relationships with. In the end, you want what's best for them and their family."
On Matt Corral…
"Matt Corral is a talented and competitive young man, and I'm excited as heck to build this team around him."
Players Mentioned
PRESSER | Lane Kiffin - Week 3 vs. Arkansas (09-08-25)
Monday, September 08
PRESSER | TJ Dottery - Postgame at Kentucky (09-06-25)
Sunday, September 07
PRESSER | Harrison Wallace III - Postgame at Kentucky (09-06-25)
Sunday, September 07
PRESSER | Austin Simmons - Postgame at Kentucky (09-06-25)
Sunday, September 07