Friday 1 p.m. update
Matt Luke is officially out of the running for the vacant Notre Dame offensive line coaching job. A source confirmed early this afternoon (Friday) that the 46-year-old former Georgia offensive line coach will remain out of coaching after stepping away for family reasons after the 2021 season.
Luke visited Notre Dame with his family on Tuesday and Wednesday and was the leading candidate to replace retired Harry Hiestand. The school had released news of the 64-year-old’s desire to end his second tour of duty at ND on Super Bowl Sunday.
Virginia Tech offensive line coach Joe Rudolph and Minnesota’s Brian Callahan are believed to be the other two top-tier candidates athletic director Jack Swarbrick referenced in a university-hosted live chat on Thursday.
The next on-campus interview will take place no earlier than Monday, per two sources.
Original post
If there was any doubt about whether Notre Dame means business in its search for Harry Hiestand’s replacement as offensive line coach, a flight from Athens, Ga., to South Bend Tuesday provided an indication of just how much, as well as the caliber of candidates the job is attracting.
Former Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke, a source confirmed Wednesday, was on that plane and met with ND head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff about the staff opening. There was a return flight from South Bend International Airport to Athens late Wednesday afternoon.
Irish Sports Daily was the first to report mutual interest from Luke.
The 46-year-old is regarded as one of the top offensive line coaches at any level in the country. He sat out the 2022 season, stepping away from a two-year run with Georgia to spend more time with family.
Luke has extensive offensive line coaching and offensive coordinator experience, spending most of his career in the SEC. He was the head coach at Ole Miss from 2017-19 but was fired at the end of his third season.
From there he went to Georgia as O-line coach at associate head coach under Kirby Smart.
Thursday 8 a.m. Update
Talked to a source this morning. Notre Dame has additional O-line coaching candidates penciled in to come in for interviews later this week, but Matt Luke is the clear leader and the Irish are waiting to see if they can work out a deal with him before moving on. Situation is very fluid.
Friday noon Update
Unless there's a very sharp turn here, it doesn't look good for Luke coming. Two sources just told me nothing official yet. Initially, the hope was to schedule more interviews today or this weekend if Luke was not interested, but his elongated timeline to give ND a final decision will push interviews back to Monday at earliest if Luke is indeed out. Joe Rudolph (Va Tech) and Brian Callahan (Minnesota) are the two I liked the most when the search started, and I believe they'd be next up. As soon as I have one or both confirmed as visiting and/or a final decision with Luke, I will pass that along.
Matt Luke is officially out of the running for the vacant Notre Dame offensive line coaching job. A source confirmed early this afternoon (Friday) that the 46-year-old former Georgia offensive line coach will remain out of coaching after stepping away for family reasons after the 2021 season.
Luke visited Notre Dame with his family on Tuesday and Wednesday and was the leading candidate to replace retired Harry Hiestand. The school had released news of the 64-year-old’s desire to end his second tour of duty at ND on Super Bowl Sunday.
Virginia Tech offensive line coach Joe Rudolph and Minnesota’s Brian Callahan are believed to be the other two top-tier candidates athletic director Jack Swarbrick referenced in a university-hosted live chat on Thursday.
The next on-campus interview will take place no earlier than Monday, per two sources.
Original post
If there was any doubt about whether Notre Dame means business in its search for Harry Hiestand’s replacement as offensive line coach, a flight from Athens, Ga., to South Bend Tuesday provided an indication of just how much, as well as the caliber of candidates the job is attracting.
Former Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke, a source confirmed Wednesday, was on that plane and met with ND head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff about the staff opening. There was a return flight from South Bend International Airport to Athens late Wednesday afternoon.
Irish Sports Daily was the first to report mutual interest from Luke.
The 46-year-old is regarded as one of the top offensive line coaches at any level in the country. He sat out the 2022 season, stepping away from a two-year run with Georgia to spend more time with family.
Luke has extensive offensive line coaching and offensive coordinator experience, spending most of his career in the SEC. He was the head coach at Ole Miss from 2017-19 but was fired at the end of his third season.
From there he went to Georgia as O-line coach at associate head coach under Kirby Smart.
Thursday 8 a.m. Update
Talked to a source this morning. Notre Dame has additional O-line coaching candidates penciled in to come in for interviews later this week, but Matt Luke is the clear leader and the Irish are waiting to see if they can work out a deal with him before moving on. Situation is very fluid.
Friday noon Update
Unless there's a very sharp turn here, it doesn't look good for Luke coming. Two sources just told me nothing official yet. Initially, the hope was to schedule more interviews today or this weekend if Luke was not interested, but his elongated timeline to give ND a final decision will push interviews back to Monday at earliest if Luke is indeed out. Joe Rudolph (Va Tech) and Brian Callahan (Minnesota) are the two I liked the most when the search started, and I believe they'd be next up. As soon as I have one or both confirmed as visiting and/or a final decision with Luke, I will pass that along.
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