OXFORD (AP) — Ole Miss has decided to keep Matt Luke as its football coach.

The 41-year-old spent the past season as the interim coach, taking over after Hugh Freeze resigned in July following a university investigation into his phone records. The school announced Luke was the permanent head coach on Twitter on Sunday night.

Luke led the Rebels to a 6-6 record, including a 3-5 mark in the Southeastern Conference. He finished the season with an emotional 31-28 upset victory over No. 16 Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.

In an ironic twist, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen announced Sunday that he was leaving to become the head coach at Florida.

The school says Luke will be officially introduced at a press conference on Monday morning. The terms of Luke’s new contract were not immediately released.

The decision to keep Luke will undoubtedly be popular inside the program. In the Egg Bowl’s aftermath, players could be heard chanting “We want Luke!” in the locker room during a raucous celebration.

The fan reaction will likely be more mixed.

Luke has been largely praised for his work this season, taking over a program that was stunned by Freeze’s resignation and keeping it competitive on most weekends. But many fans wanted a high-profile name with more head coaching experience.

Luke was Freeze’s co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach before his promotion. He’s from Gulfport and played as an offensive lineman for the Rebels in the 1990s.

Ole Miss was not eligible for a bowl this season because of a self-imposed postseason ban related to an ongoing NCAA rules infractions case. The Rebels expect to hear a final ruling in the case within the next few weeks.

Ole Miss has already self-imposed several penalties, including the postseason ban, scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions. The NCAA could accept those penalties or add to them.

The final ruling will go a long way toward determining how big of a rebuilding job Luke and the Rebels will face.

Ole Miss should have one of the league’s best offenses returning next year. The Rebels are leading the SEC with 328.4 yards passing per game and return their top two quarterbacks and several talented receivers.

The defensive rebuild will be more challenging. Ole Miss gave up 34.6 points per game this season, which ranked 13th out of the 14-team league.