A new day at Ole Miss

A college football coach is often faced with many difficult decisions. Those range from which quarterback to start the game, to what type of defense to incorporate to stop the opposition. Often, those decisions are filed away in the back of the minds of athletic directors to grade each coach at the conclusion of the season. Sometimes, those decisions are so glaring, it’s painfully obvious which action the athletic directors plan to take.

When the names like Tommy Tuberville of Auburn and Les Miles of LSU are spoken, adjectives like guts are soon to follow. It’s is dually noted, there is a fine line between guts and stupidity. The former seem to outweigh the latter in this case. Numerous times throughout these two head coaches careers, the decision to refuse to punt on fourth down are but the norm.

In crucial situations, Tuberville and Miles have elected to forgo the obvious of punting and go for the extra set of downs. Many times they are successful. Few times they are not. While at Ole Miss, Tuberville was coined the “Mississippi Gambler” for his antics. Miles, who many believe is a few cards short of a full deck, believed heavily in the tactic of not punting. Over the past few seasons, Tuberville has led the Tigers to an undefeated season and Miles saw his Tigers win the BCS Championship. It works all the time, correct? Enter former head coach at Mississippi, Ed Orgeron.

Last fall on a cool morning inside Scott Field, Orgeron was smiling. His job was secure. He was leading his arch rival, Mississippi State, 14-0. It was the beginning of the fourth quarter and the MSU offense was non-existent, to the tune of 59 total yards in the first half. The fifth win in six tries was all but locked up as the Golden Egg trophy was secure in the athletics complex at the University of Mississippi. Anyone who follows the SEC knows luck is a four letter word Orgeron knows nothing about. Stranger things have happened and it most certainly did.

Facing a fourth-and-1 at the Rebels 49-yard line, Orgeron had a choice. Go for the first down or pin the Bulldogs back in its own territory with only 10:05 remaining in the game. We were not in the huddle. We also were not privy to hear if quarterback Brent Schaeffer or running back BenJarvus Green Ellis were pleading their case to go for it. Ultimately, it was his call. The call that would squash any hopes he had of remaining the head coach at Ole Miss. Ed Orgeron rolled the dice and crapped out. As they say, the rest is history. MSU scored once, twice and rang the bell on final time off the foot of Adam Carlson’s 48-yard field goal and a 17-14 win.

The Rebels were winless in the SEC for the first time in 1982, so to say the fan base was a bit concerned would be an understatement. Pete Boone, AD at Ole Miss was more than concerned. He would relinquish Orgeron of his duties as head coach. So many factors can be attributed to the dismissal of Orgeron. None is more glaring than “the call” against MSU.

In the minds of Rebel fans, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. On that fall Friday, the Rebels lost. This upcoming season, the Rebel fans hope to win under the field direction of Houston Nutt with Ed Orgeron a figment of their imagination.