Luke Butkus begins his seventh season with the Packers and his fourth as offensive line coach, having been promoted to the position on Feb. 1, 2022, following three seasons as assistant offensive line coach.
Starting his 15th season coaching in the NFL, Butkus was initially hired by Head Coach Matt LaFleur on Feb. 7, 2019. Butkus enters his 21st season coaching in either Division I college football or the NFL. He joined the Packers after serving as the offensive line coach for the University of Illinois for three seasons (2016-18), a position he also held for the Fighting Illini in 2012.
In three seasons as offensive line coach for Green Bay, Butkus has helped the Packers rank No. 2 in the NFL over that span in sacks allowed (84), No. 4 in sack percentage (4.9) and No. 8 in yards per carry (4.58). He has helped guide Green Bay to top-10 league rankings in sacks allowed in each of the last three seasons, one of only three NFL teams to do so since 2022 (Buffalo, Detroit) and the Packers' longest streak since 1999- 2007. Butkus has helped the Packers allow one sack/zero sacks in 26 games since 2022, No. 2 in the NFL over that span.
In 2024, the Packers' offensive line contributed to the team's top-five rankings in sacks allowed (No. 2, 22), total offense (No. 5, 370.8 ypg), rushing offense (No. 5, 146.8 ypg) and yards per play (No. 5, 6.14), one of only two teams in the NFL (Baltimore) to accomplish that feat last season and the Packers' first time doing so since 2003. It marked only the third time since the 1970 merger that the Packers ranked in the top five in the NFL in both rushing offense and sacks allowed (1971 and 2003). Green Bay finished with 2,496 rushing yards on the season, the second most in team history, and 6,303 total yards, the fourth most in a season in franchise annals. The Packers ranked No. 4 in the NFL in both explosive plays (136) and explosive runs (55), with the explosive-run total the top mark by Green Bay over the past 25 seasons and the explosive-play total the second-best mark over that span.
The line helped clear the way for RB Josh Jacobs to earn Pro Bowl recognition in his first season with the Packers as Jacobs posted a team-high 1,329 rushing yards and a career-best 15 TDs on 301 carries (4.4 avg.), the most rushing yards and rushing TDs by a Packer in his first season with the team. Green Bay featured four linemen (G Elgton Jenkins, G Sean Rhyan, T Zach Tom, T Rasheed Walker) who started every game last season, with Rhyan, Tom and Walker becoming the first trio of offensive linemen to all be drafted in the same class (2022) and go on to start every game for that team in the same season since Kansas City's draft class of 1974 had three linemen start every game for the Chiefs in 1981. Jenkins was named a first alternate for the Pro Bowl while C Josh Myers was also named an alternate for the first time in his career, and Tom earned first-team All-Pro honors from Pro Football Focus.
In 2023, Butkus guided a line that ranked No. 3 in the league in sacks allowed (30), including just 12 over the final nine regular-season contests. With five-time All-Pro T David Bakhtiari sidelined for every game but one due to a knee injury, Butkus tutored Walker, a seventh-round pick in 2022, as he went on to start 15 games at LT while Tom started all 17 games at RT in his second season and did not commit a holding penalty all season. The two young tackles were part of a line that helped Green Bay become one of only two NFL teams in 2023 (San Francisco) to rank in the top six in the league in sacks allowed, giveaways (t-No. 6, 18) and third-down percentage (No. 5, 47.1).
In 2022, Butkus coached an offensive line that ranked No. 7 in the NFL in sacks allowed (32) and sack percentage (5.4). He helped guide Jenkins to his second Pro Bowl selection, his second in the last three seasons. The line helped RB Aaron Jones register 1,121 rushing yards (No. 9 in the NFL) and rank No. 2 in the league among RBs with an average of 5.26 yards per carry.
In 2021, Butkus assisted with a line that helped the offense rank in the top 10 in the league in passing offense (No. 8, 253.8 ypg), total offense (No. 10, 365.6 ypg), scoring (No. 10, 26.5 ppg), giveaways (t-No. 1, 13) and time of possession (No. 1, 32:43) despite being without Bakhtiari (knee) for all but one game and using seven different starting combinations on the line due to injuries. The line protected QB Aaron Rodgers as he threw 38 TD passes with just four INTs for a league-best 111.9 passer rating on his way to being named the NFL's Most Valuable Player by The Associated Press for the second straight season.
In 2020, Butkus worked with an offensive line that helped the Packers rank No. 1 in the NFL in scoring (31.9 ppg), giveaways (team-record 11) and time of possession (32:29), tied for No. 2 in sacks allowed (21), No. 5 in total offense (389.0 ypg) and No. 3 in yards per play (6.29). The line blocked for Jones, who set a single-season franchise mark for yards per carry (league-best 5.49) among players with 200-plus attempts, surpassing FB Jim Taylor's mark of 5.42 yards per carry in 1962. Bakhtiari and C Corey Linsley each earned first-team AP All-Pro honors, while Bakhtiari and Jenkins were both named to the Pro Bowl roster. Jenkins became just the third Packers offensive lineman (Charley Brock in his second year in 1940, Deral Teteak as a rookie in 1952) to make the Pro Bowl within their first two seasons.
In 2019, Butkus helped tutor an offensive line that paved the way for Jones to rush for 1,084 yards (4.6 avg.) and 16 TDs, with the TD total tying for the league lead. Butkus assisted in the development of Jenkins, who played in all 16 contests as a rookie and started the final 14 games of the season at left guard. Jenkins was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team, just the second Packers guard to be selected since 1974, and Bakhtiari earned Pro Bowl recognition and second-team AP All-Pro honors.
In 2018, Butkus coached an offensive line that helped the Illini rank No. 6 in the country in yards per carry (5.91 avg.) and No. 12 in rushing offense (243.0 ypg). He tutored OL Nick Allegretti, who developed into a two-time team captain (2017-18) and was twice named All-Big Ten (second-team selection by the media and honorable mention by the coaches in 2018, honorable mention by the coaches and media in 2017). Allegretti played in 47 games, including starts in the final 36 contests of his career, and was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2017, Butkus was in charge of one of the youngest units in the country. The Illini started three true freshmen on the offensive line – Larry Boyd, Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski – who combined for 27 starts as Illinois had a program-record 87 cumulative true-freshman starts.
Between the two stints at his alma mater, Butkus was the assistant offensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2013-15). In 2015, Jacksonville's offensive line protected QB Blake Bortles, who finished tied for No. 2 in the NFL with a franchise-record 35 TD passes. Bortles set a team record with an average of 276.8 passing yards per game (No. 9 in the NFL in 2015). The Jaguars led the NFL that season with a franchise-record 80 offensive plays of 20-plus yards.
Butkus served as interim offensive line coach in 2014 and oversaw a unit that helped the Jaguars rank No. 6 in the NFL in yards per carry (4.54) despite not having any linemen that started for the club in the 2013 season finale. The unit featured two rookie starters – G Brandon Linder and C Luke Bowanko – and only two players who had more than 14 career starts. LT Luke Joeckel, the No. 2 overall pick in 2013, returned to the lineup after missing the final 11 games of his rookie season with an ankle injury. Only Joeckel and LG Zane Beadles started all 16 games for the club. Butkus assisted with an offensive line in 2013 that featured nine players who started multiple games, tied for the most in the NFL that season.
Prior to returning to Illinois for the 2012 season, Butkus spent five seasons working in the NFL, the last two (2010-11) with the Seattle Seahawks as a quality control assistant working with the offensive line. He worked as an offensive assistant/ assistant offensive line coach with the Chicago Bears from 2007-09. Butkus began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon (2005-06), helping the Ducks to appearances in the 2005 Holiday Bowl and the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl.
As a player, Butkus was a three-year starting center for Illinois from 1999-2001, a third-team AP All-America selection in 2001, a two-time All-Big Ten selection (2000-01) and a captain of the 2001 Big Ten championship team. In 2001, he was part of an offensive line that paved the way for then-school records in total points, points per game and sacks allowed.
Butkus was signed by the Chicago Bears as a rookie free agent in 2002 and spent most of that season on the San Diego Chargers' practice squad. He played two seasons in NFL Europe, for the Rhein Fire in 2003 and the Cologne Centurions in 2004.
A graduate of Bloom Trail (Ill.) High School in suburban Chicago, Butkus is a nephew of the late Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, who played for the Bears from 1965-73. Luke's cousin, Mark Butkus, lettered at Illinois from 1980-83, while his brother, Josh, also graduated from Illinois.
Butkus was born June 26, 1979, in Steger, Ill. He and his wife, Nici, have three sons, Benjamin, Byron and Bear.
