CLEMSON — It did not take long for Dabo Swinney to find replacements for the departed Thomas Austin and Lemanski Hall.

Clemson’s head coach let Austin and Hall go last Thursday, by Saturday afternoon the names of whom he was going to replace them with already surfaced and on Monday morning, the new coaches were approved.

Clemson’s Board of Trustees Compensation Committee called a special meeting and approved the contracts of Matt Luke and Chris Rumph as the Tigers’ two new assistant coaches. Luke will take over as Clemson’s new offensive line coach, while Rumph will be the new defensive ends coach.

Both contracts are three-year deals.

Luke will make a total compensation of $975,000 in 2024-25 with it to increase to $1.2 million by 2026-’27.

“My family and I are incredibly excited about this opportunity,” Luke said in a release from Clemson. “I have always had tremendous admiration for Dabo as a man, as a coach and as a leader, and I am excited for the opportunity to help him win another national championship at Clemson.”

Rumph will be paid $950,000 in 2024-’25 with it increasing to $1.1 million at the end of the third year.

“For me, this is coming home,” Rumph said. “Clemson is a great fit for me and my family in terms of the town and the quality of the people. The passion of the fan base is second-to-none… Clemson is a program that has won consistently and won at the highest levels under Coach Swinney. I am excited to do my part to return the program where it aspires to be and once again have Clemson in the College Football Playoff and competing for national championships year in and year out.“

Luke most recently served as Georgia’s offensive line coach and associate head coach across the 2020-’21 seasons and won a national title with the Bulldogs in the second of those campaigns.

Prior to joining the UGA staff, Luke served the previous three years as head coach at Ole Miss.

“Matt is exactly what we needed with his hire,” Swinney said. “He brings an incredible résumé and a wealth of experience and has worked with a bunch of great coaches and players over his career. He is very familiar with our footprint in recruiting. I have no doubt he will be a great addition.”

The 47-year-old has compiled a long history of coaching the offensive line at UGA, Ole Miss, Duke, Tennessee and Murray State in addition to serving as co-offensive coordinator at both Duke and Ole Miss.

Luke also made waves in the world of recruiting while in Oxford. His first two recruiting classes as a head coach ranked in the top 25 nationally. As the offensive line coach with the Rebels, Luke was ranked eighth amongst recruiters in 2016 by 247Sports.

A former player, Luke lettered four seasons (1995-98) as a center at Ole Miss. He started in 33 career games for the Rebels and served as team captain in 1998.

Rumph coached at Clemson from 2006-’10, including the first two years of Swinney’s tenure as the Tigers’ head coach.

Rumph was the defensive line coach for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.

During his time at Clemson, Rumph helped coach a defense that allowed 16.2 points per game in 2006, 18.7 in 2007, 17.3 in 2008, 20.4 in 2009 and 18.7 in 2010. He coached All-American defensive ends Gaines Adams (2006) and Da’Quan Bowers (2010).

Both Adams (2006) and Bowers (2010) earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Bowers had a monster season in 2010, as he won the Bronko Nagurski Award in 2010 as the nation’s top defensive player. He also won the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s best defensive end.

Bowers was a second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2011 NFL Draft, while Adams was the No. 4 overall pick by the Buccaneers in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Rumph also coached defensive end Ricky Sapp, who was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2007 and was a fifth-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2010 NFL Draft.

“Chris really fits what I was looking for in this hire,” Swinney said. “I wanted someone with NFL experience — and he certainly brings that — and I was looking for the right recruiting fit as someone who grew up in this state and played in this state. We’ve had a great relationship for a long time now and, honestly, he was a guy that almost came back a couple of other times over the years, but this is the right time and I’m excited to welcome him and Kila back and him continuing the great tradition we’ve had with our defensive ends.”

Prior to coming to Clemson, Rumph was a graduate assistant at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina (1997), while serving as the head coach at his high school alma mater, Calhoun County, from 1997-2001. He then coached at S.C. State in 2002 before coaching at Memphis from 2003-’05.

After leaving Clemson, Rumph moved to Alabama where he helped the Crimson Tide win back-to-back national championships in 2011 and 2012.

He then left Alabama following the 2013 season to be Texas’ defensive line and assistant head coach for one season and then joined the staff at Florida as the co-defensive coordinator from 2015-’17.

Rumph also served in the same capacities at Tennessee from 2018-’19. In 2020, he jumped to the NFL where he coached the Texans, Bears and the Vikings.

To honor Clemson’s special senior class Dear Old Clemson is selling footballs signed by 7 of Clemson’s Avengers for only $100.  These limited edition footballs are signed by Thomas, Orhorhoro, Davis, Mascoll, Henry, Murphy and Williams.  Get one while supplies last.