Boone Announces Two-Year Extension To Orgeron Contract

OXFORD, Miss. Ole Miss Athletics Director Pete Boone announced Tuesday that he and head football coach Ed Orgeron have agreed in principle to a two-year extension to Orgeron's existing contract. Boone said he will now forward his recommendation for the contract extension to Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat as well as to the UMAA Foundation Board of Directors for their approval. Orgeron, who was named head coach in December of 2004, is in the second year of a four-year contract, which is the longest allowed by law in Mississippi. The contract extension would run through the 2010 season. Although the Rebels have gone 3-8 and 4-8 during Orgeron's first two seasons, Boone said he feels progress is being made. "We are pleased with the progress Coach Orgeron has been able to make in his first two years," Boone said. "We anticipated the resurrection of this program would take four to five years. He has assembled an extremely talented coaching staff and their superb recruiting efforts give Ole Miss fans reason for optimism in the immediate future." Ole Miss faced eight teams who went to bowl games in 2006 and lost four narrow decisions to SEC opponents. The Rebels dropped three-point overtime decisions at LSU and at Alabama, while losing by five points to Georgia and six points to Auburn. Orgeron's talent as a recruiter drew national attention when Ole Miss' 2006 signing class ranked as high as ninth in the final national rankings, which represented the best Ole Miss class put together since football recruiting analysis has been a media subject matter. His first Rebel recruiting class in 2005 was ranked No. 29, an accomplishment realized with only six weeks remaining before signing day when he was named head coach at Ole Miss. "I appreciate the confidence Pete Boone and Chancellor (Robert) Khayat continue to show in supporting our program," Orgeron said. "Everything to build a successful program is in place at Ole Miss. We're headed in the right direction and we will continue to build toward our goal of winning the Sugar Bowl. It's just a matter of time before we give Ole Miss fans the type of success they deserve. The fans have been fantastic in their support." After having only nine seniors on the 2006 squad, Ole Miss will enter the 2007 season with a much more experienced team, thanks to Orgeron's philosophy of allowing freshmen signees the opportunity to earn playing time from the beginning of their collegiate career. Last year's team included 45 scholarship freshmen and sophomores, and of the 17 true freshmen to see action last fall, eight started at least one game during the year.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related News

Related Videos