2017 Ole Miss Rebels football team
The 2017 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels played their home games at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by then-interim head coach Matt Luke. They finished the season 6–6, 3–5 in SEC play to finish in sixth place in the Western Division. On February 22, 2017, the University of Mississippi self-imposed a one-year ban from post-season play on the Ole  Miss football team for the 2017 season, due to alleged NCAA violations. On July 20, 2017, head coach Hugh Freeze resigned in the wake of allegations about repeated calls to a female escort service from his school-issued cell phone. He was given the ultimatum, either resign or be fired. Recruiting. Recruits. The Rebels signed a total of 23 recruits. Coaching staff changes. After the conclusion of the 2016 season, adjustments throughout the coaching staff were made. After defensive coordinator Dave Wommack announced his retirement from coaching, offensive coordinator Dan Werner was fired. The team would hire Wesley McGriff to  replace Wommack as the defensive coordinator, Jacob Peeler to replace Grant Heard as the wide receivers coach, Tray Scott to replace Chris Kiffin as the defensive line coach, and Wesley McGriff (who took over as the defensive coordinator) to also coach the safeties, replacing safeties coach Corey Batoon. Also, assistant athletics director Barney Farrar was relieved of his duties. NCAA investigation. Following a lengthy investigation, the NCAA issued a Notice of Allegations against the Ole Miss football program in January 2016. The university announced that it had received an amended Notice of Allegations on February 22, 2017. In total, the  NCAA brought 21 distinct charges against the football program, individual coaches and athletic department officials, and boosters. These include fifteen Level I violations (the most serious). Four of the eleven Level I violations occurred or involved coaches employed prior to Coach Hugh Freeze's tenure. The Level I offenses include: Ole Miss announced several self-imposed penalties in May 2017, including a post-season ban in 2017, three years of probation, a reduction of 11 scholarships, and a variety of recruiting restrictions. The NCAA Committee on Infractions hearing concluded on September 12, 2017. Schedule. Ole Miss announced its 2017 football  schedule on September 13, 2016. The 2017 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Rebels will host SEC foes Arkansas, LSU, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt, and will travel to Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, and Mississippi State. The Rebels will host three of the four non-conference opponents, Louisiana–Lafayette (ULL) and South Alabama which are both in the Sun Belt Conference and Tennessee-Martin (UT Martin) from the Ohio Valley Conference and will travel to Berkeley to play their first ever Pac-12 Conference opponent, the California Golden Bears. 2017 Ole Miss Rebels football team