New Clemson coach prepares for duel with former team

CLEMSON, SC (FOX Carolina) – Clemson offensive line coach Matt Luke made his Tigers debut last year with a win in the Gator Bowl, and his first game this year will be against the last team he coached: No. 1 Georgia.

Luke puts the headset back on for his first full season in three years after thinking he might never coach again. He said it was Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney himself who helped change those plans.

“You get a few calls and you think, 'No, I don't want to do this, no,'” Luke said. “But when Dabo called me, there was something. There was a pause. And I thought, 'You know what, if I'm going to do it, I want to do it there.'”

In this year's season opener, Luke will lead the Tigers' offensive line against a Georgia team he helped win the national championship in 2021 before stepping down to spend more time with his family.

He talked about coaching against his former team.

“It's about the players on the field against a really, really good opponent. I think the positive is that when you play against an opponent like that, you're motivated to prepare all summer,” Luke said. “When you play against an opponent like that, you learn a lot about your team early on. I'm excited to be a part of it (Clemson) and get it back to where we all want it to be.”

Luke brings more than 20 years of college coaching experience and has also worked at other SEC schools such as Tennessee and Ole Miss.

“When people see me on the field, hopefully they see energy and enthusiasm,” Luke said. “They see someone who loves being a coach and loves being around the guys. I can't ask the guys to bring that if I don't bring it.”

His boys are already taking it to the next level on his new team. Swinney said Luke's offensive line “won the day” in the first practice game of the summer.

“He's great, he's smart, he's been a head coach, so he understands my job very well,” Swinney said of Luke. “He's got an experienced group. These guys have really bought into what he's asked of them. I'm really proud of him, he's done a great job.”

The unsung heroes on the front lines never go unnoticed by Luke.

“You can set the whole sideline on fire, you can set the whole stadium on fire if the pile is stopped and the offensive line pushes the pile and everyone starts cheering,” he said. “That, to me, is the most important thing about playing offensive line.”

Swinney pointed to Luke's experience as a head coach, leading Ole Miss for three seasons, where Luke also played center and was named captain of the Rebels in 1998. No. 14 Clemson will play Luke's last team, No. 1 Georgia, at noon Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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