Tag: Matt Luke georgia

How good was Georgia’s OL under former coach Matt Luke?

UGA’s front under Matt Luke…

Georgia’s offensive line coach for the last two seasons, Matt Luke, elected to step down shortly after the Bulldogs’ national title citing family reasons.

You might hear Dawg fans who are thankful for Luke’s departure, but the reality is that UGA’s front under the former Ole Miss head coach was one of the best in the SEC.

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Luke also helped build a wall of talent. While in Athens, Luke was involved in the recruitment of two five-star and three four-star lineman, including Broderick Jones (5), Amarius Mims (5), Tate Ratledge (4), Aliou Bah (4) and Earnest Greene (4).

While I wouldn’t be worried about coach Kirby Smart finding a quality replacement for Luke, his impact on this Georgia team was undeniable and that UGA front was a big part of the Bulldogs’ national title.

Here are a few names to keep an eye out for as Smart and staff look for a new captain up front.

 

Report: Georgia OL coach Matt Luke done at UGA

Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke has elected to step down from his duties, per a report from Rivals. Details here…

After two seasons with the Bulldogs, Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke will step down, per a report from Rivals. 

Luke spent the last season as associate head coach along with offensive line duties. The former Ole Miss head coach released this statement today following the story, which includes a Kirby Smart statement.

Luke’s decision appears to be related to family reasons and one cannot blame him for such. At this level of college football, the work rates are outstandingly difficult and time consuming.

The question now remains for the Bulldogs: Who will replace Luke?

Georgia has immense talent among its offensive line, so Smart and staff will have to make an experienced hire to help keep the front formidable to an SEC schedule.

As the Bulldogs begin their coaching search, check back to UGAWire for more information as news breaks.

Georgia O-line coach Matt Luke named top-25 recruiter

Rivals recently released their list of the top-25 recruiters and Georgia is represented by offensive line coach Matt Luke. Details here.

Rivals recently released their list of the top 25 recruiters in college football and Georgia is represented by offensive line coach Matt Luke.

After three seasons as head coach at Ole Miss, Luke took over the Bulldogs front in 2019 when Sam Pittman left Athens for the head coaching job at Arkansas.

Luke made his mark on Georgia’s 2021 recruiting class by signing the top-ranked tackle in the class, five-star Amarius Mims, while adding another top-10 tackle, four-star Micah Morris.

Rivals wrote:

“Georgia was unable to pull off a fourth straight recruiting rankings title in 2021, but the Dawgs did sign the nation’s sixth-best class, which featured a ton of top talent. Top-ranked among the prospects headed to Athens is five-star offensive tackle Amarius Mims the No. 4-ranked prospect overall in 2021. Offensive line coach Matt Luke was responsible for delivering Mims for the Bulldogs, and he did not stop there, landing big offensive tackle Micah Morris who is the fourth-highest ranked prospect in this Georgia class, and four-star offensive guard Dylan Fairchild. Three-star offensive guard Jared Wilson rounds out Luke’s offensive line recruiting haul in this 2021 class.”

While Rivals has Georgia’s class rated as the No. 6 class in the country, other sites such as 247Sports have the Dawgs rated at No. 3 in the nation behind Alabama and Ohio State.

Regardless, the Bulldogs 2021 class is full of talent, especially along the offensive line as Luke worked to replace senior starters Trey Hill and Ben Cleveland.

While Wilson, Fairchild and Morris will most likely redshirt, Mims should have an opportunity to compete for either tackle spot as senior Jamaree Salyer, who started every game at left tackle in 2020, is expected to move to guard next season, his natural position.

We will know much more about next year’s lineup when Georgia holds the annual ‘G-day’ spring game, which is scheduled for April 17.

This week on the “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton” podcast, we talk national signing day and break down Georgia’s Will Muschamp hire and preview Super Bowl LV. Listen here:

Rival SEC commit visits Georgia football staff in Athens

Ole Miss pledge Daran Branch is in Athens for weekend to meet with Kirby Smart and Matt Luke.

The Georgia Bulldogs have a visitor on campus committed to a conference rival.

Ole Miss pledge Daran Branch is in Athens for weekend to meet with Kirby Smart and company. His primary recruiter is Matt Luke, former University of Mississippi head coach and current offensive line coach at Georgia.

It will be one of Branch’s five allotted official visits.

Branch, a three-star senior cornerback out of Amite, Louisiana, committed to Ole Miss on November 17, two weeks before Luke was ousted from Oxford.

The lengthy cornerback certainly fits Kibry Smart’s mold for an ideal defensive back’s size and has the speed, awareness, and ball skills to be a ball hawk at safety.

Georgia’s 2020 defense will return the vast majority of the team’s 2019 starters, but only have two cornerbacks (five-star Kelee Ringo and four-star Jalen Kimber, the latter of whom already enrolled at UGA) and one saftey (Major Burns, enrolled) in the 2020 class.

Branch previously committed to Miami in March. It seems like a spot is there for him in Athens given his relationship with Matt Luke, but his commitment will be one to keep on eye on in the next week and a half before National Signing Day.

How much is Georgia’s new OL coach Matt Luke making?

Here’s how much Georgia football’s new OL coach Matt Luke is making a year at UGA.

Georgia wasted no time finding a replacement for Sam Pittman, the Bulldogs’ former offensive line coach who is now the head man at Arkansas.

Pittman was about as good as there was at his job, securing commit after commit and building the Great Wall of Georgia.

He also served as the Dawgs’ associate head coach.

And he was paid nicely for it, too.

At Georgia, Pittman earned $900,000 in his final season, a crazy price tag for a position coach, but one that was well-deserved.

Shortly after Pittman left for Arkansas, the Dawgs secured his replacement: Matt Luke, the former Ole Miss head coach who has a long history of coaching offensive linemen.

Luke will also serve as associate head coach.

According to an open records request that was submitted and obtained by Dawgs247, Luke will also make $900,000 at Georgia.

From Dawgs247:

The length of the contract was not included in the information Dawgs247 was able to obtain. He’ll be paid $375,000 in base salary with $525,000 coming as additional compensation.

Anyone else think they took the wrong career path?

Twitter reacts to Georgia’s big time hiring of Matt Luke as OL coach

Georgia football made a big splash hiring Matt Luke and UGA Twitter reacted.

Matt Luke, who was fired as head coach of Ole Miss on December 1st, has accepted the position of offensive line coach at Georgia.

Luke fills a void left by former o-line coach Sam Pittman, who took the position of head coach at Arkansas.

For Georgia, this was about as good of a hire as possible. To get a head coach from an SEC school to come coach a position group is a big move, and Kirby Smart pulled it off.

A few hours before the news, former Georgia offensive linemen David Andrews and Brandon Kublanow both tweeted about how good of a hire this would be if Georgia were able to make it happen.

Now, with the hiring being confirmed by Georgia, Bulldog fans can breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to picking up where we left off with Pittman.

Here are some social media reactions to the news.