Matt Luke Named UGA OL coach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKLcvXQZUss&feature=youtu.be
ATHENS - Kirby Smart has hired Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke as offensive line coach.
“We are extremely excited and fortunate to have Matt join our staff,” said UGA head coach Kirby Smart. “He’s a proven football coach who has a wealth of experience on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the offensive line. He has a great reputation among those who have played for him and it’s obvious watching his teams over many years that players love him and play hard for him.”
Luke was dismissed from Ole Miss after guiding the Rebels to a 15-21 mark over three years. Luke played center at Ole Miss. Several UGA players cheered the hire on social media, with former UGA center and Super Bowl Champion David Andrews advocating loudest for the hire.
“(Matt Luke) recruited me when he was at Duke and was my favorite coach that I got to spend time with. Really pushing for this one!” Andrews said Tuesday morning.
The move comes almost 48 hours after former UGA OL coach Sam Pittman was hired as the new head coach at Arkansas. UGA commitments on the offensive line have taken a wait-and-see approach to their recruiting since Pittman’s departure.
But with Luke now in the fold it will be interesting to see if Georgia’s offensive line commits come back into the fold.
A former offensive lineman at Ole miss from 1995-98, Luke began his career as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss in 1999. His previous coaching stops which led to his head coaching position at Ole Miss included Murray State (OL, 2000-2001), Ole Miss (OL/TE, 2002-2005), Tennessee (OL/TE, 2006-07), Duke (Co-OC/OL, 2008-2011), Ole Miss (Co-OC/OL, 2011-2016), and Ole Miss interim head coach (2017). He was named head coach at Ole Miss where he served from 2018-2019.
A native of Gulfport, Miss., Luke was a standout at Gulfport High School before enrolling at Ole Miss. He graduated from Ole Miss in 2000 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Along the way he served under head coaches David Cutcliffe at Ole miss and Duke, Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss, and Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss.
Luke is married to the former Ashley Grantham of Oxford, Mississippi, and the couple has two sons, Harrison (born Feb. 18, 2008) and Cooper (born July 20, 2011). His father, Tommy, was a defensive back at Ole Miss in the 1960s while his brother, Tom, quarterbacked the Rebels from 1989-91.