Luke Butkus enters his ninth season coaching in the NFL and his first with the Packers. Named assistant offensive line coach on Feb. 7, 2019, by Head Coach Matt LaFleur, Butkus enters his 15th season coaching in either Division I college football or the NFL. He joins the Packers after serving as the offensive line coach for the University of Illinois for the past three seasons (2016-18), a position he also held for the Fighting Illini in 2012.
In 2018, Butkus coached an offensive line that blocked for the No. 2 rushing attack in the Big Ten (243.0 yards per game, No. 12 in the nation). It was the best average for the Illini since 2010, when they led the conference with an average of 246.1 rushing yards per game. Illinois also ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten (No. 6 in the nation) in average yards per carry with 5.91 in 2018, and its 25 rushing touchdowns tied for No. 5 in the conference.
Butkus 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 16 total true freshmen throughout the season, including three on the offensive line, plus one redshirt freshman. The four – Larry Boyd, Vederian Lowe, Alex Palczewski and Doug Kramer – combined for 35 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 touchdown passes. Bortles set a team record with an average of 276.8 passing yards per game (No. 9 in the NFL). The Jaguars led the NFL 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), but featured zero players that started for the club in the 2013 season finale. The unit featured two rookie starters – guard Brandon Linder and center Luke Bowanko – and only two players that had more than 14 career starts. Left tackle Luke Joeckel, the second 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 left guard Zane Beadles started all 16 games for the club. Butkus assisted with an offensive line that had nine different starters during the 2013 season.
Prior to returning to his alma mater in 2012, 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 All-America selection by The Associated Press 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 Township (Ill.) High School in suburban Chicago, Butkus is a nephew of 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.
