The Ole Miss Rebel Road Trip made its first stop in Vicksburg since 2012 on Tuesday, when athletic director Ross Bjork, chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and football and men’s basketball coaches Matt Luke and Kermit Davis came to the Vicksburg Convention Center to talk about the future of the Ole Miss program to the Rebel faithful who attended.

Vicksburg is one of 13 stops on the Rebel Road Trip, with 10 of those spread across the southeast this week. After Tuesday’s luncheon in Vicksburg, the caravan had a dinner date in Indianola. Wednesday’s stops are in Tupelo, Birmingham and Corinth, and the first leg of the tour wraps up Friday in Oxford. Three more dates in New York City, Jackson and Memphis are scheduled this summer.

In addition to the speeches, the coaches met with fans and signed autographs, and Luke showed off the Egg Bowl trophy.

“I think it’s been great,” Bjork said of the Road Trip. “People are energetic, and they’re curious because we have coach Davis and coach Luke, brand new head coaches, who are excited about moving forward with all of the challenges that we’ve had. I think the theme that I’m getting is that it’s a new day, we’re back to normal, back to what we should be doing, and let’s move ahead in a positive way.”

Luke also thought the Road Trip had gone well, and emphasized the importance of the support they’d seen in Mississippi thus far.

“It’s been great just to get out, and the energy, and just to talk to the Ole Miss Rebels fans, it’s just fun,” Luke said. “We have to go to Charlotte, New Orleans, along with stops in Mississippi, it just shows you that the Ole Miss brand is very powerful. That’s good that the brand is so big, but right here in Mississippi, that’s where it starts, and that’s where I’m born and raised. We’ve been talking a lot about Mississippi made, and the responsibility of being the flagship university in the state.”

Davis, who was hired in March, also enjoyed meeting with Ole Miss fans.

“It’s been great,” Davis said. “We had great turnouts yesterday, it’s kind of neat for me, being the first time, seeing a lot of people that I didn’t know and especially in the southern part of the state, and even in New Orleans last night, it’s just been good crowds and good turnouts.”

Being in Vicksburg, Luke made sure to give an update on former St. Aloysius offensive lineman Ben Brown, who has been making strides in his second season with the Rebels.

“He had an awesome spring,” Luke said. “Him and Royce Newman, two young linemen, they’re going to be very talented, very pleased. Y’all should be proud of Ben. Not only is he a great player, he’s an outstanding young man, and he’s a great representative of our university.”

Meanwhile, it was Davis’ first time visiting Vicksburg, but he had a good impression of the town.

“I have some pals that I went to school with here in Vicksburg,” Davis said. “I know it’s a great Ole Miss town, a lot of great Rebels in the Vicksburg area, so I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of the people, we’ve had a great time on the trip so far.”