Matt Luke, Kirby Smart release statement on offensive line coach's departure

News broke earlier on Monday that Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke was deciding to step down from his duties. Later, both Luke and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart released statements on the decision, citing spending time with family as the primary reason for the unexpected announcement.

“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. “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.”

 “Matt Luke has made the decision to step away from coaching football,” Smart added.  “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.”

Luke, who also holds the title of associate head coach, joined the staff in December of 2019 following the departure of Sam Pittman. He came on during bowl prep for the Allstate Sugar Bowl matchup against Baylor before helping the Bulldogs to their second straight New Year’s Six Bowl game win in 2020. That season Ben Cleveland was named First-Team All-SEC while Warren McClendon earned All-SEC Freshman Team honors. Cleveland would go on to be picked by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2021 NFL Draft while Trey Hill was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals. Georgia’s offensive line once again was one of the best in the country during Luke’s second season in 2021, finishing in the top-10 for fewest sacks allowed. On a per-game basis, the Bulldogs ranked atop the SEC.

Before coming to Georgia, Luke had built a long history as a successful offensive line coach at Murray State (2000-01), Ole Miss (2002-05 and 20012-16), Tennessee (2006-07) and Duke (2006-11). In addition to coaching offensive line, Luke held co-offensive coordinator titles while at Duke and during his second stint with Ole Miss. Under his direction, the Rebels set program records for scoring, touchdowns, total offense, passing yards and passing touchdowns, leading the SEC and ranking top-10 nationally in scoring, total offense and passing during the 2015 seasons. Furthermore, Luke helped coach future NFL Draft selections Laremy Tunsil and Fahn Cooper on the offensive line. Tunsil and Cooper are among the 42 all-league selections and 27 NFL draftees that Luke coached prior to his time at UGA.

All that success as an assistant and coordinator lead to Luke becoming the head coach of the Rebels in 2017, a position he held for three seasons. He was named the interim head coach a week before fall camp when he took over after the firing of Hugh Freeze and responded with a 6-6 season, winning three of the final four games including a road win over rival Mississippi State. The interim tag was removed after that game. Faced with a reduction of scholarships and recruiting restrictions as a result of NCAA probation from the fallout of Freeze’s tenure, Ole Miss was unable to play in a bowl game and Luke went 5-7 and 4-8 over the next two seasons.

“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,” Luke continued. “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.”

Georgia’s next offensive line coach will inherit a room recruited both by Luke and those that came before him. With the likes of former five-stars Broderick Jones and Amarius Mims, along with returning starters Sedrick Van Pran, Warren Ericson and Warren McClendon, the Bulldogs are set up for success in 2022. Furthermore, those guys will have to hold off other talented players like Tate Ratledge and Xavier Truss, among others, in competition for playing time.

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