Matt Luke emerges as a candidate for Clemson Football offensive line coach

Clemson Football parted ways with Offensive Line Coach Thomas Austin on Thursday, and today a name has already popped up as his potential successor.

Former Ole Miss head coach and Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke has emerged as a candidate per Larry Williams of Tiger Illustrated, as well as others.

Luke was the line coach for the Bulldogs when they won the national championship in 2021. He stepped away from that role after the season so he could spend more time with his family.

Luke succeeded Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss after the latter stepped down following a scandal. He coached three seasons from 2017 to 2019 and had a combined record of 15-21. Luke was relieved of his duties following the 2019 season.

Before taking over at Ole Miss, Luke was the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He also held offensive line coach positions at Duke, Tennessee, and Murray State.

Luke has coached a total of 22 seasons. That experience is in stark contrast to Austin, who had two seasons of experience at Georgia State before taking over for Robbie Caldwell in 2021.

Matt Luke would be the second former SEC coach hired by Dabo Swinney to lead Clemson’s offensive line

This would be the second time head coach Dabo Swinney will have hired a former SEC head coach to take over Clemson’s offensive line. Caldwell was formerly the head coach for one season at Vanderbilt.

Luke played college football at Ole Miss as a center from 1995 to 1998.

It is unknown how quickly anything could develop, but the general opinions being expressed by the insiders indicate that we could hear about an official hire soon. When Swinney fired Brandon Streeter, he had already done his homework to identify and recruit Garrett Riley to take over as the offensive coordinator. It would not be surprising to know Swinney has been doing his homework during the latter half of the regular season.