Talked to some very tied in people at Ole Miss and Charlie Strong is on the short list of potential replacements for Hugh Freeze. There are a couple of factors that could determine whether or not he is offered the job.
The biggest issue/hurdle is what the NCAA does and if a second year of a bowl ban and significant scholarship reductions are in play. If Ole Miss is hammered many think they will just keep Matt Luke and ride out the storm with him. If they get a second year of a bowl ban, their players become eligible to transfer to any program without sitting out, essentially free agency and there will be a mass exodus.
On the Strong end, Ole Miss has whiffed so far on major targets and getting strong interest (no pun intended). Our Ole Miss people say Charlie is very interested in the job and has been pushing for it because he is not enjoying life in the G5 and the resources.
I've talked to some people at USF and they believe Strong will leave if he is offered any decent P5 job (meaning not Kansas or Rutgers).
Interestingly Ole Miss is enamored with Willie Taggart, but he won't budge until the NCAA findings are released. Lane Kiffin's name is coming up at Ole Miss as well, but seems unlikely due to his NCAA issues.
Mike Norvell who was considered a candidate for the job failed his background check with several schools.
Just giving you all a heads up.
The biggest issue/hurdle is what the NCAA does and if a second year of a bowl ban and significant scholarship reductions are in play. If Ole Miss is hammered many think they will just keep Matt Luke and ride out the storm with him. If they get a second year of a bowl ban, their players become eligible to transfer to any program without sitting out, essentially free agency and there will be a mass exodus.
On the Strong end, Ole Miss has whiffed so far on major targets and getting strong interest (no pun intended). Our Ole Miss people say Charlie is very interested in the job and has been pushing for it because he is not enjoying life in the G5 and the resources.
I've talked to some people at USF and they believe Strong will leave if he is offered any decent P5 job (meaning not Kansas or Rutgers).
Interestingly Ole Miss is enamored with Willie Taggart, but he won't budge until the NCAA findings are released. Lane Kiffin's name is coming up at Ole Miss as well, but seems unlikely due to his NCAA issues.
Mike Norvell who was considered a candidate for the job failed his background check with several schools.
Just giving you all a heads up.
