Growing up wearing his brother’s No. 17 jersey while watching the Rebels from the stands, Matt Luke’s family has ties to Ole Miss that date back three generations.

But his personal connection came in the mid-1990s when he was Tommy Tuberville’s first recruit, and later was a four-year center from 1995-98. He went on to be an Ole Miss assistant under David Cutcliffe, and was most recently co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach before he was tabbed to replace Hugh Freeze last month.

Tuberville recently recalled Luke’s impact on the program on a recent Saturday Down South podcast as a “legacy kid” from the Gulf Coast.

“I flew down. He had already committed to Rice,” Tuberville said. “He was a center. I sat in front of his parents who love Ole Miss and I said, ‘Look, there’s nothing I can do. I don’t have a scholarship. We already have enough offensive linemen, but I would love to have him walk on. If he walks on, I’ll make sure he gets a scholarship.’”

Tuberville recalled overcoming the NCAA sanctions at Ole Miss when he started there, and how Luke and his parents “sacrificed for two years and he came to Ole Miss and was part of a rebuilding process.”

Tuberville made a comparison with his start at Ole Miss with what Luke is facing following the resignation of Freeze and impending NCAA sanctions.

“That’s what Matt’s looking at,” Tuberville said. “He’s looking just to survive this year and then hopefully become the head coach, which I think he would do a great job. There’s no better person to run this person for the next few years than Matt Luke, because he’s one of them.”