Luke addresses plans for defensive coordinator

OXFORD — With Wesley McGriff out as Ole Miss’ defensive coordinator, Matt Luke’s search for his replacement is underway.

Luke and the Rebels parted ways with McGriff on Friday after the Rebels finished 2018 ranked last in the SEC in both scoring defense and total defense. Speaking for the first time since the decision, Luke addressed Tuesday what he’ll be looking for in McGriff’s replacement.

“I want somebody that’s called it, that’s experienced and they have a plan,” Luke said. “But this is the Southeastern Conference. You have to have somebody that can stand in front of a room and command a defense and capture their hearts and their minds. But also is schematically very, very competent. 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.”

Luke repeatedly preached the idea of finding the right “fit” for the defensive coordinator job above all else. Along with recruiting for the upcoming early signing period, Luke listed finding his next defensive coordinator as his top priority through the end of the month.

The early signing period for the recruiting class of 2019 begins on Dec. 19 and runs through Dec. 21. Through that time, Luke said his only focuses will be on recruiting and finding the right defensive coordinator. That means all other coaching decisions will be put on hold, including the status of offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

Luke said he’s been pleased with Longo’s job and won’t frown at back-toback top-10 offenses, but also knows there have been issues scoring in the red zone and fixing that needs to be a priority. With Longo and the entire staff, Luke said there’s constant evaluation of performance, but fixing on-field issues won’t be as high of a priority through the early signing period.

With the early signing period coming quickly, Luke said the speed at which he finds his next defensive coordinator is of paramount importance. But he also said he doesn’t want to rush and make the wrong hire for the sake of timing.

“It certainly raises the level of difficulty, but you can’t put that in front of finding the right person,” Luke said. “So I have to find the right fit. If it works out where I can get him before the signing period, that’s obviously best. But I’m not going to put that ahead of finding the right fit.”