 Sloan posted a 20–34 record from 1978 to 1982.After stepping outside the Ole Miss family football tree the previous nine seasons, Ole Miss looked for a familiar face to lead the football program, and the Rebels found that person when Billy Brewer returned to Oxford to take over as head coach in December 1982.In his first season in 1983, Brewer guided the Rebels to their first winning regular season since 1977 with a 7–4 record (Tulane win a result of forfeit).