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Following Ole Miss’ 44-23 loss to Auburn on Saturday, it began circulating on Twitter that Ole Miss had publicly posted a job application for a candidate to be the Rebs’ next head football coach. That coincidence infuriated one former Rebel, namely one Romaro Miller, who played quarterback for the Rebs behind none other than center Matt Luke, Ole Miss’ current interim coach. Luke took over for the disgraced Hugh Freeze back in July.
Chancellors come and go, ADs come and go, coaches come and go. True Rebels & alumni will be here 4 ever. Actions yesterday were a disgrace.
— Ro Miller (@RomaroMiller) October 8, 2017
I don’t care when they did it just not while he’s in the stadium or bus. He basically got fired on a bus even tho we all know. On a !!
— Ro Miller (@RomaroMiller) October 8, 2017
He’s a Reb. We all knew he wasn’t getting the job. He shouldn’t have to answer this crap on the bus leaving the game. Do that tomorrow .
— Ro Miller (@RomaroMiller) October 8, 2017
The most disappointing thing 4 me today was getting an alert that the OM opening was posted as soon as the clock hit 0. ML deserves better!
— Ro Miller (@RomaroMiller) October 8, 2017
[CORRECTION FOLLOWS:] Assistant athletics director Michael Thompson kindly reached out to me to clarify some of the assertions in our original post, and really, for the rest of college football internet. First, human resources processed the job advert as part of its overnight scheduling during part of its Friday/Saturday update. The post went live on the website at midnight CT. People didn’t notice the job advert until sometime Saturday, and the link started making the rounds later in the day (notably following the Auburn loss). Further, since the job is for a state position, all such postings must be open to the public.
Ole Miss posts job opening for head football coach on same day of Auburn blowouthttps://t.co/fyccmJHZ7s pic.twitter.com/v3nyRAi6jL
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) October 7, 2017
It’s important to remember that Romaro is here reacting to chronology. This apparent situation is sure to piss off those who feel immense loyalty to Luke, as Miller undoubtedly does. Y’know, having taken thousands of snaps from him in college.
Assistant AD Thompson also stresses to me that the forum for former players to discuss the new hire was planned back in August of this year, while the announcement from Bjork went out on Monday following an already misunderstood series of events over the weekend. Moreover, “Matt Luke has been kept fully informed throughout the entire process,” Thompson writes to me.
Calling on all @OleMissFB players to attend. Want to hear your input on moving our program forward together. Go Rebels! pic.twitter.com/eilvd66vml
— Ross Bjork (@RossBjorkAD) October 9, 2017
The two unfortunate things at issue here:
- HR’s website processed and pushed live — which they’re required by state law to do — the job advert at midnight CT, but college football Twitter didn’t pick it up until after the loss. As far as I can tell, no outward Twitter announcement of the job application was made from an official Ole Miss Twitter account. These things tend to be announced via various login-needed clearing houses.
- The forum for former players was planned back in August, but Ross Bjork didn’t announce it on an outward-facing platform (that is, Twitter) until Monday. Again, the Monday after a loss, and after the already hectic Saturday of the Auburn game.
So there’s an entire background apparatus at work here that many — including us, including Romaro Miller — totally missed. In any case, let’s hope this Friday meeting is a productive one. Hopefully Romaro’s in the room, at least.