Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke

It didn't take long for Kirby Smart to fill the offensive line coaching vacancy on his staff -- less than 48 hours, in fact. Persons with knowledge of the situation have informed Dawgs247 that barring something unexpected former Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke will be the Bulldogs new offensive line coach.

UPDATE: Official word has now been handed down from UGA that Luke is indeed the new offensive line coach and associate head coach.

Sam Pittman, who coached the offensive line for the first four years of Smart's tenure at UGA, let the program to become the next head coach at Arkansas on Sunday night. Pittman grew into one of the most beloved Bulldog assistant coaches in recent memory because of his ability to recruit and develop as well as his masterful use of social media whenever he would land a blue-chip prospect. He'll now be replaced by a coach who was beloved by his players in a three-year head coaching stint (one of those as the interim head coach) at his alma mater.

Luke helped pull the Rebels through NCAA sanctions after Hugh Freeze was fired prior to the 2017 season and led the program to a 15-21 record during that time. Ole Miss got better from year to year under Luke but he was fired after losing a heartbreaker to Mississippi State in the 2019 Egg Bowl. That loss caused the Rebels to finish the season 4-8 and marked a third straight finish in the No. 6 spot of the SEC's Western Division.

The former Ole Miss offensive lineman's entire coaching career has been in The South. He started as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss in 1999 before becoming the offensive line coach at Murray State in 2000. He spent two seasons there before going back to Ole Miss as the offensive line and tight ends coach in 2002. He spent three years at Ole Miss with David Cutcliffe as the head coach and when Cutcliffe was let go after the 2004 season, Luke was retained by Ed Orgeron. After four years in Oxford, Luke moved on to Tennessee under head coach Phillip Fulmer and Cutcliffe (offensive coordinator) in 2006 and 2007.

When Cutcliffe moved on to become the head coach at Duke, Luke followed. He spent four years there, serving as the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach before returning to Ole Miss in 2012. In his third stint with the Rebels, Luke held the same positions as he did during his time at Duke. He did that from 2012 to 2016 before taking over as the interim head coach.

During his career as an assistant coach, Luke coached guys like Michael Oher (Ole Miss), Arron Sears (Tennessee), Laremy Tunsill (Ole Miss) and Greg Little (Ole Miss). He has coached under or with offensive guru's like Cutcliffe, Freeze, and Rich Rodriguez during his career.

Luke might be able to help coach the Bulldog offensive line for its matchup with Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl but he'll, at the very least, get a chance to evaluate a group that is stocked with talent thanks to Pittman's recruiting efforts.