Georgia has a new offensive line coach in Matt Luke, as Georgia officially announced Matt Luke as the replacement for Sam Pittman, who left to be the Arkansas head coach. Luke will be Georgia’s offensive line coach as well as Associate Head Coach.
Luke was the head coach at Ole Miss for the past three seasons, going 15-21 in that time. He’s spent time as an offensive line coach at Ole Miss — where he also played — Tennessee and Duke. In his time at Ole Miss, he landed recruits such as Larmey Tunsil and Greg Little.
Related: Georgia football: What does the O-line recruiting picture look like now without Sam Pittman?
Georgia coach Kirby Smart commented on the addition of Luke to the staff and what he will bring.
“We are extremely excited and fortunate to have Matt join our staff,” Smart said. “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 also received a vote of confidence from former Georgia offensive linemen David Andrews and Brandon Kublanow.
SEC Network and offensive line expert Cole Cubelic praised the hiring of Luke.
Georgia’s current 2020 recruiting class has five offensive line commits. Those commits, should they decide to do so, can sign as early as next week. Georgia holds commitments from 5-star offensive tackle Broderick Jones, 4-star tackle Tate Ratledge, 4-star tackle Chad Lindberg, 4-star tackle Joshua Braun and 4-star center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger. Ratledge, Lindberg and Braun were all planning to sign next week prior to Pittman’s departure.
Like Pittman, Luke is extremely popular with players. After news of his firing at Ole Miss, many players were upset by the decision with a number of players threatening to transfer according to a report from the Jackson-Clarion Ledger’s Nick Suss.
With Luke now hired, Georgia once again has 10 assistant coaches on its staff which is the limit. That means if Georgia wants to bring in another assistant, one of Georgia’s current assistant coaches would have to leave the staff.
Related: What a Georgia football timeline of events looks like as 2019 comes to a close
Georgia football has one more game to close out the 2019 season, as it will take on the Baylor Bears in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
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