Georgia hires new offensive line coach following Sam Pittman’s departure to Arkansas
Georgia acted quickly to replace its vacancy at offensive line coach. The Bulldogs hired Matt Luke on Tuesday, the school confirmed to The Telegraph.
After falling 37-10 in the SEC Championship to LSU, Georgia suffered another loss with Sam Pittman, who became head coach at Arkansas after being the Bulldogs’ offensive line coach since head coach Kirby Smart was hired in Dec. 2015.
Smart had to act quickly with Early Signing Day coming on Dec. 18. Luke was fired on Dec. 1 as head coach at Ole Miss after spending three seasons (one as interim head coach and two as head coach) with the Rebels trying to rebuild the program as an offensive mind.
“He’s a proven football coach who has a wealth of experience on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the offensive line,” Smart said. “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 received support from Georgia recruits, current and former players, according to reports. At the time of Pittman’s dismissal, Georgia had five pledges for its 2020 recruiting class. Most of them attributed a strong relationship with Pittman as a reason for committing to the Bulldogs. Luke will likely visit with those prospects in quick fashion.
Luke is one of the most respected offensive line minds in the business and garners tremendous support from his players. When he was fired after three years as Ole Miss’ head coach on Dec. 1, it was wildly unpopular with many of the Rebel players.
As rumors of Luke’s hire swirled Tuesday, a pair of former Georgia offensive linemen voiced their support:
A former Ole Miss offensive lineman himself, Luke has over 15 years of experience coaching the offensive line with stops at Murray State (2000-01), Ole Miss (2002-05), Tennessee (2006-07), Duke (2008-11) and Ole Miss (2011-16).
He also served as co-offensive coordinator in his last two stops at Duke and Ole Miss before coaching the Rebels to a 9-15 record over the past two seasons, as well as a 6-6 mark as the interim coach in 2017.
Over his 20 years as a coach, Luke’s teams have averaged just over 140 rushing yards per game over the course of the season. That’s marked by a high of 251 yards per game in the 2019 season for Ole Miss. In pass protection, Luke’s teams surrendered 27 sacks per season on average in the past eight seasons at Ole Miss.
Smart has dealt with the coaching carousel in each offseason of his tenure. Most recently, Georgia promoted Dan Lanning to co-defensive coordinator and hired Charlton Warren as defensive backs’ coach last season to fill the responsibilities of former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. Tucker is now the head coach at Colorado.
Georgia concludes its season on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 12:56 PM.