Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke is stepping down from his position at Georgia, serving as the offensive line coach for the past two seasons. The news of Luke’s decision was first reported by Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com
Luke served as the offensive line coach at Georgia for the past two seasons, replacing Sam Pittman. Luke was set to be Georgia’s second-highest paid assistant, with only offensive coordinator Todd Monken making more than the $900,000 Luke was set to make in 2022.
Georgia hired Luke after the 2019 season. Luke had been the head coach at Ole Miss prior to being fired at the end of the 2019 season, before quickly landing on his feet at Georgia.
Luke released a statement on his decision.
“Today, after much prayer and conversation with my family, I have decided to step away from coaching and shift my focus to spending more time with my family,” Luke said in a statement “I want to thank Coach Smart, his wife Mary Beth, and the entire Georgia family for an incredible past two seasons. I also appreciate Coach Smart’s support in my decision today. He’s a great coach, and I’ll always cherish his friendship. It has been an honor of a lifetime to be able to win a national championship with this staff and these players, and something I will never forget.
“Being able to play and compete in the SEC as a player and then continue my career in football as a coach for the last 23 years has allowed me the opportunity to give back to the game I love so much. To all the players I have had the opportunity to coach through the years, I want to say thank you for trusting me and allowing me to be your coach and play a small role in your lives. I will never forget the relationships and memories that we made together. That’s what makes this game so special and what I will miss the most. Last, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife Ashley, my sons Harrison and Cooper, as well as my entire family, for their love and support over the years. The opportunity for us to be together more excites me about this next chapter in our lives. Once more, thanks to Coach Smart, the coaches, players, and staff at the University of Georgia for making these past two years some of the best of my life. God Bless.”
The Georgia offensive line will have to replace two starters in the upcoming season, as Justin Shaffer and Jamaree Salyer are off to the NFL. One of the key changes Georgia made in the national championship game was moving Broderick Jones to left tackle and Salyer to right guard.
Whoever inherits Luke’s job will take over a talented room. Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Warren McClendon and Warren Ericson all returns, as do talented young players such as Jones, Tate Ratledge and Amarius Mims.
Georgia signed five offensive linemen in the 2022 recruiting cycle, with four of them enrolling early. Drew Bobo, son of Georgia offensive analyst Mike Bobo, is the only offensive line signee who is not on campus as of this moment.
Smart also commented on Luke’s decision, thanking him for all he did in his time at Georgia.
““Matt Luke has made the decision to step away from coaching football,” Smart said. “He has been an invaluable part of our staff and played a great role in helping us win a National Championship. We are so appreciative of everything he has done for Georgia Football. Matt, Ashley, and his children have been, and will continue to be, an important part of the Bulldog family and Athens community. We’re working on finding a coach that will continue to develop our young men and build our strong foundation with the offensive line.”
The Bulldogs do have two offensive line commitments in the 2023 recruiting cycle in 4-star prospect Bo Hughley and 3-star RyQueze McElderry.
Luke will be the fourth assistant Georgia has had to replace this offseason, as Dan Lanning is now the head coach at Oregon, Cortez Hankton is the wide receivers coach at LSU and Jahmile Addae is the defensive backs coach at Miami. Georgia hired Chidrea Uzo-Diribe as the replacement for Lanning at outside linebacker, Bryan McClendon is the new wide receivers coach and Fran Brown will coach defensive backs. Will Muschamp and Glenn Schumann will serve as co-defensive coordinators.
Georgia is set to begin spring practice in less than a month, with March 15 being the first date. Georgia’s annual spring scrimmage is set for April 16.
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