Tag: Matt Luke

Former Georgia football players express support for potential Sam Pittman replacement

Former Georgia football players express support for Sam Pittman replacement candidate Matt Luke

Georgia football had a particularly rough weekend, after losing the SEC Championship Game to LSU in Atlanta Saturday and offensive line coach Sam Pittman to Arkansas Sunday.

With Pittman’s departure from the Peach State, comes a need for a new offensive-minded coach on the Bulldogs’ staff.

The name being tossed around lately is former Ole Miss Rebels head coach Matt Luke. Though he’s already the favorite to replace Pittman in Athens, having the support of two well-respected former players certainly can’t hurt.

We’ve heard Luke is the candidate current and former players have been lobbying for and this only adds to the buzz.

While nothing is official at the moment, it’s looking like Matt Luke very well could be the next offensive line coach in Athens. Stay tuned to UGA Wire as we update you throughout the week on everything changing.

 

Recapping an eventful college football Sunday in the SEC

Recapping an eventful college football Sunday in the Southeastern Conference

After Georgia defeated Georgia Tech on Saturday to advance its playoff hopes another week, the college football world began to take a turn.

Sure, there was the Iron Bowl, which virtually eliminated Alabama from playoff contention, but that was an afterthought by Sunday afternoon.

The Sunday after the final day of the college football regular season began to work its magic, or terror, depending on who you are.

Arkansas’ Chad Morris was already fired weeks ago, but Sunday brought the end to the Barry Odom and Matt Luke era’s in the conference, at least for now.

 

Though both firings make sense, they didn’t go as easily as the athletic departments had initially planned. Odom, dealing with a program on probation from the postseason for 2019, kept every returning player on the roster last spring. Meanwhile, Luke guided the Rebels through a couple probation years of their own, to what seemed like a bright future with John Rhys Plumlee at quarterback.

Neither coach ever pulled any massive upsets or got their teams into the Top 15, but a case could be made on retaining them for a few more seasons. However, this is the current age of college football, where change is to be expected.

If you thought we were done, you’re in for an even bigger twist. Remember Feleipe Franks and Jake Bentley, the quarterbacks many picked to upset Georgia in 2018? Well, they’re gone too.

Franks, the uber-confident three-year Florida starter, took to Instagram to announce he intended to transfer out of Gainesville or enter the NFL Draft. As for Bentley, it’s on to a new path as well, after having an almost identical storyline to Franks’ in 2019.

Both quarterbacks suffered unfortunate season-ending injuries at the beginning of the season and saw their jobs get taken by once unproven backups in Kyle Trask and Ryan Hilinski.

The future in Athens seems much more clear, with Fromm returning for his senior year and Smart coaching another season on the sidelines almost a sure thing.

Of course, we have no confirmation that Fromm will return, but it seems very likely at the moment.

As of right now, this is where we’re at. However, it wouldn’t be a shock if South Carolina’s Will Muschamp gets sent packing in the next couple of days, though several minor changes have already been made in Columbia.

Stay tuned to UGA Wire throughout the week as we bring you the latest on the changes coming to the SEC.