Clemson Tigers OL Coach Matt Luke's Simple Approach: 'No Shortcuts'

Clemson Tigers offensive line coach Matt Luke is one of the most highly regarded coaches at his position in college football. He enters his second season with a team that has national championship hopes coming into 2025.

Much of the talk surrounding the Tigers has been their skill players on offense, like quarterback Cade Klubnik and a bevy of talented pressure players on defense.

However, all of the work on offense starts in the trenches, and Luke likes what he sees in his second season, with veterans returning across the line of scrimmage.

"There's no substitute for experience," Luke said at Clemson media day last week. "When you have a collective group of guys that play a lot, not only does it make them better, it also makes the guys that are coming better. They get to see those things."

Cohesion and competition might be two of the most important words on he offensive line, and Luke sees both with the Tigers, and it bodes well for the present and future.

"I think the biggest thing for us is just putting the work in and just trying to develop," Luke said. "You want to develop competition at every single position. That's the goal. Even the two older tackles, you want them to be pushed by the young guys.

"I just think that's huge, keep creating that competition, and I'm excited about it. I felt like we took a good first step last year, but now we've got to continue to build on that. Put the work in; that's what it's going to take."

While the offensive line has a lot of familiar faces, the Clemson backfield will look new, including highly touted freshman running back Gideon Davidson. Davidson was the No. 2 running back in the country, according to Rivals.

The process for getting the running backs comfortable with the offensive line might be simple, but the work is hard.

"Time and putting the work in," Luke said. "You have those 15 practices in the spring where you take that first step. There's no shortcut; there's no magic. It's just putting the time in, putting the work in, spending time together this summer. Obviously, fall camp will be a huge piece of that as well.

Luke liked what he saw in the spring, including converted wide receiver Adam Randall, who at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, has some Deebo Samuel traits.

"You see the growth and development, and obviously with Adam getting some snaps, even against Texas, that's a big deal. He went out there in a game, and he did it. You've got the 15 practices in the spring, and you've got fall camp to keep building that cohesion," Luke said.

Dabo Swinney and the Clemson staff have put the pieces in place to make another run at the ACC Championship and beyond in 2025. The process is simple, but the results are more difficult. There are no shortcuts, and Matt Luke is instilling that mentality into his men.