Mike MacIntyre is ready to get to work in Oxford.

While many Ole Miss fans may be more excited to see what new offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez does in Oxford, MacIntyre’s hire will likely be the one that determines Matt Luke’s fate in Oxford. With the Rebels featuring one of the worst defenses in SEC since Luke took over for Hugh Freeze in Oxford, MacIntyre has a significant challenge on his hands.

Of course, the former Colorado head coach knows what it takes to be a success in Oxford, as he previously served as an assistant on both sides of the ball for Ole Miss, under former head coach David Cutcliffe (as receivers coach in 1999 and 2000 and secondary coach in 2001 and 2002).

Ole Miss held an introductory press conference for MacIntrye and the 2016 National Coach of the Year explained why he decided to return to Ole Miss. The former Colorado coach noted his previous working history with Luke played a factor in his decision.

“There were a lot of things that went into it, but No. 1, of course, Matt, us knowing each other so well and wanting him to do well,” MacIntyre answered. “He’s the type of coach, the type of person that his passion for Ole Miss that I want him to be successful.

“The second part of it is was we absolutely loved our time here at Ole Miss. My wife loved it here, my kids loved it here. They’re excited about visiting it, coming here, and being around. Third I thought about the SEC, I’ve been west for a long time so I wanted to get back south and east. So excited about doing that too and this is a great opportunity to coach in the SEC and help Ole Miss be successful and get better.”

The biggest question many Ole Miss fans have for MacIntyre, what type of defense will he run in Oxford? The program’s new defensive coordinator plans to run a 3-4 based scheme, and he went into some detail into his logic.

“I’ve been 4-2-5, 4-3, 3-4. When I was with the Dallas Cowboys we ran a 4-3 with Mike Zimmer and we did really well. And then Coach Bill Parcells has always been a 3-4 guy and after switched it going into our third year. So I saw that whole development how they draft it, how they work it,” MacIntyre said. “I did the same thing when I was with the New York Jets. I like the 3-4 principle for a lot of different reasons, No. 1 being all these spread teams it would clog up the b-gaps, make the ball bounce, it can allow edge pressure.

“I call the outside backers ‘quarterback disruptors.’ Not only can they confuse the offensive line because they don’t know who’s coming, but they can also act like they’re coming, they can Hollywood, get in passing lanes, they can help in an RPO system.”

You can watch MacIntyre’s full intro video below: