Friday March 29th, 2024 3:07AM

Smart hires Matt Luke to replace Sam Pittman as OL coach

By AccessWDUN Staff

ATHENS — Kirby Smart announced on Tuesday that former Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke will be the next offensive line coach at the Unversity of Georgia.

He'll also carry the title of associate head coach and will replace Sam Pittman, who left for the Arkansas head coaching job.

Luke has a long history of coaching the offensive line at Ole Miss, Duke, Tennessee, and Murray State in addition to serving as co-offensive coordinator at both Duke and Ole Miss.

“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.”

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, Miss., 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.
 

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