Georgia expects to hire ACC offensive line coach for same role, per reports
By Keith Farner
Published:
Georgia has reportedly settled on its next offensive line coach to replace Matt Luke, who recently stepped down.
Multiple reports, including Dawgs HQ and Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, reported that Kirby Smart has settled on Stacy Searels, the offensive line coach at North Carolina.
Searels coached 3 seasons with the Tar Heels, and previously coached Georgia’s offensive line from 2007-10. Searels will replace Luke, who resigned on Feb. 21 after 2 seasons on staff.
Searels joins the Georgia staff with 30 years of coaching experience during which time he has produced 25 NFL offensive linemen, including 11 who were drafted.
Overall, after 4 seasons playing professionally, Searels started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Auburn in 1992, according to his UNC bio. He coached the offensive line at Appalachian St. (1994-2000), Cincinnati (2001-02), LSU (2003-06) and Georgia (2007-10) before he spent 3 years with Mack Brown at Texas (2011-13), including one season as the Longhorns’ assistant head coach. Searels spent 5 seasons in the ACC before he went to North Carolina, as he coached the offensive line at Virginia Tech (2014-15) and Miami (2016-18).
North Carolina’s 2021 offense posted 35.2 points per game and 468.2 yards per game — both third-best in the ACC — while leading the conference with 2,763 rushing yards. Searels’ offensive line has helped produce the most 1,000-yard rushers nationally over the last three seasons with five.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
