Georgia OL coach Matt Luke stepping away from coaching

#1
Volprofch05

Volprofch05

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#1
https://theathletic.com/news/georgia-offensive-line-coach-matt-luke-stepping-away-from-coaching-football/0DGUU1Cf0f4y/

Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke is stepping away from coaching football so he can "shift my focus to spending more time with my family," he said in a statement on Monday. Luke has been the Bulldogs' O-line coach for the past two seasons.

"(Luke) has been an invaluable part of our staff and played a great role in helping us win a National Championship," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "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."
 
#7
#7
unfrozencvmanvol said:
May hurt them with Arch Manning. Overall, their fans weren't real happy with his OL recruiting. He followed Pittman remember and Pittman could pretty much sign whoever he wanted.
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Timing could hardly be worse for UGA. In fairness to CML, whoever followed Pittman would have a drop-off in recruiting. And it's not like he whiffed. He was able to keep together the 2020 class after Pittman departed for Arkansas, which included Broderick Jones, Cedrick Van Pran and Tate Ratledge. In 2021 he brought in 4 OL prospects, including the top player in the state of GA, Amarius Mims. In the 2022 class, UGA signed 5 OL prospects, including the #2 IOL for the cycle, Earnest Greene. Going in to the 2022 campaign, the OL should be one of the strengths of this team. All in all, thought Luke did a good job. I'm sure others would disagree. I wish the best for him.
 
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#8
#8
onevol74 said:
You think he is being forced out?
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I doubt it, it'll probably hurt their chances with Arch which tells me they probably didn't want him to leave. Luke was one of probably 2 position coaches their fans whined about the most however. I think that's mostly because he replaced Pittman though who was the best in the biz. That's a tough act to follow.
 
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#9
#9
unfrozencvmanvol said:
May hurt them with Arch Manning. Overall, their fans weren't real happy with his OL recruiting. He followed Pittman remember and Pittman could pretty much sign whoever he wanted.
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Weren’t happy with the OL recruiting? In 2021 they signed 3 top 25 OL. Why would Luke have any effect on Arch unless he was one of his primary recruiters.
 
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#12
Remy said:
Something more is at play. We may never know what it is, but there HAS to be more to this story IMO.
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I think Matt Luke was making $3M/year for a year or two at Ole Miss.

Our dude might've figured out that he can take the 4-5million he should have banked from coaching and have a VERY successful life owning a coupla "blue chip" Chic Fil A and/or Dominos franchises and never be pressed to go recruiting all over the country again.

Who needs the pressure?
 
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#13
#13
BigOrangeTrain said:
Weren’t happy with the OL recruiting? In 2021 they signed 3 top 25 OL. Why would Luke have any effect on Arch unless he was one of his primary recruiters.
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On the second question, the Ole Miss connection, he used to be head coach there, he knows the Manning family well and is connected with them. On the first question, these are UGA fans we are talking about, who are often even more irrational than we are. That wide receiver coach that went to LSU was probably numero uno on their crap list but I heard alot of complaining about Luke down here too. They didn't perceive him to be as good as Pittman, on the field or on the trail.
 
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#14
unfrozencvmanvol said:
On the second question, the Ole Miss connection, he used to be head coach there, he knows the Manning family well and is connected with them. On the first question, these are UGA fans we are talking about, who are often even more irrational than we are. That wide receiver coach that went to LSU was probably numero uno on their crap list but I heard alot of complaining about Luke down here too. They didn't perceive him to be as good as Pittman, on the field or on the trail.
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Wow. Their fans are total idiots. I mean I could see it if Luke recruited 3* bums and his OL underperformed. While he is not quite on Pittmans level, Luke was a pretty good OL coach.
 
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#15
#15
BigOrangeTrain said:
Wow. Their fans are total idiots. I mean I could see it if Luke recruited 3* bums and his OL underperformed. While he is not quite on Pittmans level, Luke was a pretty good OL coach.
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One of their high ranked guys on the OL did the thing where he didn't announce until the all-star game, so they didn't know he was in the class on ESD, lots of whining at that time. Our fans can leave me shaking my head sometimes, but some of theirs are really terrible, especially considering how good they've been lately, and what a bunch of whiny b***hs they nonetheless are.
 
#16
#16
It'd be nice if some of their better OL decided to transfer out over this.


We could make room for a good OT... or two.
 
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SayUWantAreVOLution said:
I think Matt Luke was making $3M/year for a year or two at Ole Miss.

Our dude might've figured out that he can take the 4-5million he should have banked from coaching and have a VERY successful life owning a coupla "blue chip" Chic Fil A and/or Dominos franchises and never be pressed to go recruiting all over the country again.

Who needs the pressure?
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That's harder work than recruiting.
 
#18
#18
I’ve mentioned this in other threads, but I think the quality of day to day life is not where it needs to be with the current state of college football. I think there needs to be a major restructuring of the rules when it comes to recruiting, the portal, etc …I get that the money is great, but I can see the constant pressures of the non X’s and O’s aspects of coaching college ball pushing more good coaches out of coaching or to the NFL.
 
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#21
#21
Remy said:
Something more is at play. We may never know what it is, but there HAS to be more to this story IMO.
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My understanding is he spoke with Kirby after the season and said he was thinking about stepping down. Kirby told him to think about it a little more. I guess he made his decision over the weekend. I hear he's not leaving Athens.
 
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RDU VOL#14 said:
I’ve mentioned this in other threads, but I think the quality of day to day life is not where it needs to be with the current state of college football. I think there needs to be a major restructuring of the rules when it comes to recruiting, the portal, etc …I get that the money is great, but I can see the constant pressures of the non X’s and O’s aspects of coaching college ball pushing more good coaches out of coaching or to the NFL.
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I don't think you could pay me any amount of money to be a college football coach. For most of the year you travel (except in the dead periods) all over the southeast, if not the country, trying to evaluate and convince mercurial, temperamental 17 and 18 year olds to play football for your team. In March/April and August, you do this simultaneously while running practices, and of course from September through December you do this while simultaneously coaching during the season. It's insane.

So much of the job is recruiting that when practices and the season rolls around, I bet it feels like a distraction.
 
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#23
#23
RDU VOL#14 said:
I’ve mentioned this in other threads, but I think the quality of day to day life is not where it needs to be with the current state of college football. I think there needs to be a major restructuring of the rules when it comes to recruiting, the portal, etc …I get that the money is great, but I can see the constant pressures of the non X’s and O’s aspects of coaching college ball pushing more good coaches out of coaching or to the NFL.
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right and combine that with the huge salary. They made the mistake of making him independently wealthy.
 
#24
#24
RDU VOL#14 said:
I’ve mentioned this in other threads, but I think the quality of day to day life is not where it needs to be with the current state of college football. I think there needs to be a major restructuring of the rules when it comes to recruiting, the portal, etc …I get that the money is great, but I can see the constant pressures of the non X’s and O’s aspects of coaching college ball pushing more good coaches out of coaching or to the NFL.
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The problem is that they can create all the rules they want, but so long as recruiting top players leads to better results, it's not going to change anything. People will find ways around the rules.

If you want quality of life as a high-level football coach, you just have to go to the NFL.

In spite of the terrible quality of life, obviously some people can never step away from it. Look at Gus Malzahn. I thought for sure he'd take some time off. Maybe even get a cushy TV analyst role. Instead, he jumped right back in, in spite of having an insane net worth due to his buyout.
 
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#25
These coaches at big time schools make stupid good money. Yes it's a dream gig for most in the industry but it is so demanding on you as well. I'm surprised we don't see more high level coaches taking leaves or retiring early. I'd be gone quick if I earned a few years of seven digit salaries lol.
 
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