Lucas J. Butkus (born June 26, 1979) is an American football coach and former center who is the offensive line coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks and the Oregon Ducks.
| Green Bay Packers | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive line coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | June 26, 1979 Steger, Illinois, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Bloom Trail (Chicago Heights, Illinois) |
| College: | Illinois |
| Undrafted: | 2002 |
| Career history | |
| As a player: | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Butkus played college football at the University of Illinois and was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He has also played for the Rhein Fire, San Diego Chargers and Cologne Centurions.
Playing career
editHe attended training camp with the Bears in 2002 and the San Diego Chargers in 2003. Butkus also played center for the Rhein Fire (2003) and Cologne Centurions (2004) of NFL Europe. He attended Bloom Trail High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois and the University of Illinois.
Coaching career
editOregon
editIn 2005, Butkus began his coaching career at the University of Oregon as a graduate assistant coach. He would serve in this position until 2006.
Chicago Bears
editIn 2007, Butkus was hired by the Chicago Bears as an offensive assistant and assistant offensive line coach under head coach Lovie Smith.
While the announcement that the tenure of quality control coaches Butkus and Charles London would end came on the same day as the public learned that several Bears' offensive coaches would be fired, leading to speculation that London and Butkus were fired for performance issues, the team would later clarify that the quality control coaches were signed to contracts set to expire after the 2009/10 season, regardless of the team's final standing.[2]
Seattle Seahawks
editOn February 1, 2010, Butkus was hired by the Seattle Seahawks as their assistant offensive line coach under head coach Pete Carroll.[3]
Illinois
editIn 2012, joined his alma mater, the University of Illinois under head coach Tim Beckman.
Jacksonville Jaguars
editIn 2013, Butkus was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as their assistant offensive line coach under head coach Gus Bradley.
Illinois (second stint)
editIn 2016, Butkus returned to the University of Illinois as their offensive line coach, reuniting with head coach Lovie Smith.[4][5]
Green Bay Packers
editOn February 7, 2019, Butkus was hired by the Green Bay Packers as their assistant offensive line coach under head coach Matt LaFleur.[6]
On January 30, 2022, Butkus was promoted to offensive line coach following Adam Stenavich's promotion to offensive coordinator.[7]
Personal life
editButkus is the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Luke Butkus". Pro Sports Transactions.
- ^ "News | Chicago Bears Official Website".
- ^ "Former Bears assistants land NFL jobs". August 4, 2023.
- ^ "Illinois hires John Tenuta to lead defense". ESPN. January 3, 2016.
Luke Butkus returns to his alma mater for his second stint as offensive line coach at the University of Illinois in 2016.
- ^ Evans, Thayer (March 8, 2016). "Jaguars' Luke Butkus will be new offensive line coach at Illinois". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ "Packers name Luke Butkus assistant offensive line coach". www.packers.com. February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ Silverstein, Tom (January 31, 2022). "Green Bay Packers reward Adam Stenavich with promotion to offensive coordinator". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ Reinmuth, Gary (November 2, 2001). "Doing uncle proud". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 23, 2017.