OXFORD — Upon reflection, maybe fate is the proper way to describe it.

The teenager who turned down scholarship offers in order to walk on at Ole Miss eventually started 33 games and became a team captain.

Once that teenager became an assistant coach with the Rebels, he turned down other job opportunities to stay with the program he played for. After Hugh Freeze's stunning resignation on July 20, Matt Luke became the 38th head coach in Ole Miss' history.

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“It’s a pretty cool story, to be honest with you," said Luke's brother, Tom, a former Rebel quarterback who is now the associate athletic director for player development.

“This is just fate," Luke's father, Tommy, who played defensive back for Ole Miss in the 1960s. "Good Lord or somebody made it happen this way.”

Matt's love for the university was rewarded by fate and the payoff comes in some aspects Saturday, in what is certain to be an emotional day for him and his family, when the Rebels open their season against South Alabama at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (6:30 p.m., ESPNU) under his leadership for the very first time.

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Luke spent the past five seasons as Ole Miss' offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator. Sophomore offensive tackle Greg Little was one of the program's best recruiting coups during that time.

In last season's season opener against Florida State, which was Little's collegiate debut, Luke had to calm his true freshman tackle's nerves.

On that fateful July day when Luke ascended to the head coach role, the roles were reversed.

“He was kind of nervous because it was kind of at the last minute," Little said. "So I said, ‘What’s the first thing you told me with Florida State to do before my first play?’ He’s like, ‘Go in there and breathe.’ So I said, 'Go in there and breathe, coach, and do what you do.'”

What Luke does is operate with passion and emotion. His talks with the team have been known to generate chants of, "Coach Luke, Coach Luke," cornerbacks coach Jason Jones told reporters this week.

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Luke's fire is apparent to those who've worked with him, played with him, or have just watched him at a practice.

"He will have that team jacked up," Jones said. "In our mock game Saturday night, he got fired up and started talking to the team. He started jumping around. The team started jumping around and we had to settle down because it is not game day yet."

Redshirt freshman receiver D.K. Metcalf, whose father Terrence played with Luke at Ole Miss, said: “He can really motivate us before we even go out to practice. I’ve never been so motivated just to go practice (than) by his speeches.”

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At his introductory press conference, Luke said his biggest challenge would be keeping his emotions in check.

It's something he reiterated this week. He's excited about the opportunity, taking that walk through The Grove and coaching the first game in what is basically a 12-game audition for the permanent job.

But at the same time, Luke realizes that can't overwhelm him and distract him from the task at hand, which is to be organized and efficient as a head coach.

“Obviously, he’s going to be feeling his way through it," Tom said. "He knows what to do, he knows how to do it but obviously when the bullets are flying, so to speak, I think if he keeps his emotions in check, he’s going to do a great job. He’s ready."

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Luke will probably come up with some bullet points of what he wants to tell his team Saturday, but then, he said, he'll let emotion take over. But now Luke finds himself in an interesting predicament.

He might feel like it, but he's not sure he should utilize the rah-rah speech at every practice or every meeting or otherwise the words start to lose their meaning.

But at the same time, he wants to be true to himself, which is his goal Saturday.

"I think if you go out there and try to act like you think you’re supposed to act, I don’t think you’ll do as good of a job," he said. "I think I’ve got to go out there and be myself and whatever happens from that point, happens. But at least you know you did it as you, not trying to be like somebody else."

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Tommy didn't have much of an issue keeping calm as a player. He described he and Tom as "easy-going." Matt has a good sense of humor, he said, but is more serious.

Both Tommy and Tom said Matt's mother will be nervous Saturday night. Tom didn't think his dad would be, but Tommy feels different.

“I’ll be nervous. It’ll be worse on me than it will him, I can assure you that. I’ve been through it with the boys as players and coaches," Tommy said. "As a parent that’s your child out there, it’s still your little boy.”

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The futures of a lot of families tied to Ole Miss' program are at stake this season depending on how well the season does or doesn't go. So while Tom will be thinking about the game Saturday, the variables will also be in the back of his mind.

"As a family, you’re sitting out thinking ‘OK, we need to do this.’ It’s important not only for the game, but the families that are involved and all that and the kids that are here," Tom said. "They don’t want change again. It’s so important for so many variables and so many reasons. I know he knows that. He’s got one thing in mind and that’s go to put up a W.”

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Luke is trying to avoid big-picture thinking that would be natural for someone in an interim position like his.

A few days after his first press conference, Ole Miss Football's Twitter account released a video of Luke addressing the team after a workout. He told them everyone saw a coach that just seemed grateful to be in his position, but that he didn't plan on going anywhere.

"He's on his pedestal. It's just fun. It's something he always wanted," offensive guard Daronte Bouldin said. "It's just fun just being here and having a guy like that represent you and leading you."

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Luke later elaborated on his message to the team that day: “I just wanted to make sure they know I’ve been preparing for this job my entire career. (For) 14 years I’ve been a player or a coach here and I don’t plan on going anywhere. I just wanted to make sure they had that message and they knew what I felt.”

What happens from here on out is just a matter of fate, which has seemed to work out for Luke so far.

Contact Antonio Morales at 601-961-7117 or amorales2@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter.