Clemson hires Luke as new O-line coach
Clemson football has its new offensive line coach: Matt Luke. Dabo Swinney went outside the program to hire the former Ole Miss coach to replace fired assistant Thomas Austin.
Luke was signed to a three-year deal that was approved Monday by the Clemson Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee. He’ll be paid $975,000 in 2024-25, $1.1 million in 2025-26 and $1.2 million in 2026-27.
“My family and I are incredibly excited about this opportunity,” Luke said in a school release. “I have always had tremendous admiration for Dabo as a man, as a coach and as a leader, and I am excited for the opportunity to help him win another national championship at Clemson.”
Luke has been out of the business for almost two years. He was most recently offensive line coach at Georgia during the 2020 and 2021 seasons and was on the Bulldogs’ 2021 National Championship staff. He resigned in February 2022, citing a desire to spend more time with family.
Prior to his time at Georgia, Luke was coach at Ole Miss from 2017-19. He went 15-21 and was fired after his third season.
Luke had spent time as the Rebels’ co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach before his head coaching tenure, and he served as offensive line coach at Duke, Tennessee and Murray State earlier in his career.
Swinney fired Austin, a former Clemson player, on Nov. 30 after Austin’s two seasons as the offensive line coach. The announcement was made alongside that of the departure of defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall, who was replaced by Chris Rumph on Monday.
Luke, 47, played collegiately at Ole Miss as a center from 1995-98 and earned his degree in business administration in 2000. He started 33 career games for the Rebels and was voted as a team captain in 1998 in helping lead the team to a 7-5 record and an Independence Bowl victory. He was a two-time Academic All-SEC selection.