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Illinois loses offensive line coach to NFL

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The coaching changes continue in Champaign, as offensive line coach Luke Butkus is leaving Illinois for a position with the Green Bay Packers.

On Thursday, the Packers made the announcement that Butkus would be joining the staff as the assistant offensive line coach. This will be the fourth NFL staff Butkus has been a part of in his coaching career.

Butkus has previous stints with the Chicago Bears (2007-09), Seattle Seahawks (2010-11) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2013-15). He leaves for the NFL after spending the last three years with Lovie Smith and Illinois.

Arriving in 2016, Butkus’ most recent stint with the Illini was his second with the program, also coaching the offensive line on Tim Beckman’s staff in 2012. He also played college football with the Illini.

Smith has had to endure several coaching changes this offseason and will have to fill another gap on his staff in the coming weeks. Illinois just wrapped up its 2019 recruiting class, which ranked 63rd overall and last in the B1G.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB