I have somewhat been a defender of him, but my patience is wearing thin. Though I want to play devil's advocate.

His OL last night was a Juco LT, a true freshman, a banged up center, a senior with 2 acl tears and a RS freshman at 280lbs with a sophomore who needs surgery and another RS freshman as a backup. Would any OL coach be praised with that talent? I think we can all agree if we take a second and think instead of just madly pointing blame that no OL coach would look good with that lineup.

Where I think our frustration comes from is this is year 4. Why is that our only options in year 4? The first automatic thought is he isn't developing players so young kids have to step in a role they aren't ready for. Well if you break it down instead of just once again angrily assigning blame, the one player that he recruited that he's had more than 1 full year to develop is Daronte Bouldin. Davion had to leave with a concussion, Golson transferred, Christian Morris has been through one spring and one summer workout. The only other player that may fit that mold is Tyler Putman who tore his ACL in the middle of his season and we stuck with his commitment which is a HC decision, not Luke's. Justin Bell won't lose weight and Ben Still's next best offer was Tulane.

The next thought should be, "well everyone has injuries, everyone has suspensions, we have not recruited/developed to adapt to the world not working out perfectly". The recruiting aspect of that, I've got nothing other than who else has recruited better on the OL than Matt Luke in OM history? 3 five stars, another possibly on the way, a 4* already committed, to go along with another that we traded out in a transfer (Morris for Golson). Out of those 4 highly rated players, only 1 was on the field mildly healthy. Tunsil is suspended, Morris has had one offseason, Rod needs surgery, and our one elite healthy OL is a true freshman.

I am of the mind that only the 3 year and gone players can come in and be productive as freshmen at that position in this league. I am also of the mind that OL development is more about experience, motivation, and getting your body right then some secret technique that only a few people in the world know about. All of these coaches are teaching the same things. Matt Luke has proven he can recruit better than any OL coach we have had and no one try's to motivate his guys more than Luke. So maybe that's why I keep holding onto hope that he isn't the whole issue. I did not like the hire in the beginning because his OL's ran a pro style offense. He played in a pro style.

Like I said, I am playing devils advocate a little here and I am beyond frustrated that one unit might bring down the entire ship. But take a step back and look at what he has, look at what he's recruited, and remember he's a Reb who will do everything he can to make this right. Is it enough? If we land Little then next year we will see because he will return basically 4 starters, who are all in their 3rd+ years except our best OL at the moment in Patterson.