Meadows joins KU football staff as offensive line coach
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas’ offensive staff is starting to take shape as head coach Les Miles announced the hiring of Luke Meadows to coach the offensive line. Meadows comes to KU with 21 years of collegiate coaching experience, including two seasons working hand-in-hand with Jayhawks offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey.
“Luke is an outstanding coach at a position that is really instrumental to the success of our offense,” said Miles. “His familiarity with Chip and the style offense he wants to run is a huge asset to us as we look to implement the offense with our staff and players. We are excited to have Luke and his family joining us at Kansas.”
Lindsey and Meadows spent the 2014-15 seasons at Southern Miss and during their time in Hattiesburg the offense improved from 17.9 points per game to 39.9, the rushing offense jumped from 72.9 to 179.8 yards per game (leading the league in 2015), and the total offense improved from 315.5 to 509.5 yards per game. In 2015, USM became the second team in NCAA history to have a 4,000 yard passer, a 1,000 yard receiver, and two 1,000 yard rushers. In addition, USM had one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, leading all schools with plays of 20+ yards (109) and second in plays of 30+ yards (54).
“I am excited to reunite with Luke, who I worked with at Southern Miss, where we had a record-setting offense,” said Lindsey. “He is one of the best fundamental offensive line coaches I have been around. Another important thing about Luke, though, is the relationships he develops with his players. We share the same philosophy in that the relationships we build with our players at Kansas will be our number one priority.”
During his career, Meadows has coached one Academic All-American, five All-Americans, 25 all-conference, 21 academic all-conference, and two all-newcomer awards at the offensive line position. In addition, he has coached 16 players who have been drafted or signed as free agents in the NFL.
Meadows arrives in Lawrence after spending the 2017-18 seasons at Eastern Michigan where he served as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator. Meadows overhauled the Eastern Michigan offensive line in 2017 to rank second in the MAC and 28th nationally in the fewest sacks allowed. EMU’s offense ranked third in the MAC in passing offense at 257.3 yards per game. The line also gelled down the stretch in the rushing attack, as EMU racked up 815 yards on the ground over the final four games, which included four 100-yard rushers.
Under Meadows’ tutelage, Jimmy Leatiota earned Second Team All-MAC honors is also a candidate for the Outland Trophy.
Meadows was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at 2016 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national champion Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas. The Broncbusters steamrolled through their 2016 schedule en route to an 11-0 record by outscoring the opposition by an average of 19 points per game. The program captured its first Jayhawk Conference title since 2001 and finished off the program’s first-ever perfect season with a 25-22 victory over Arizona Western College in the NJCAA Football Championship Game. Overall, the offense racked up 194.8 yards and 15.7 first downs per game on the ground.
Meadows joined the Broncbuster staff after serving two years as the offensive line coach, with Lindsey serving as offensive coordinator, at Southern Miss. He arrived after a 1-11 season and he and Lindsey combined to help the Golden Eagles make a major jump to 9-5 in 2015, while winning the Conference USA West Division title.
Prior to his time at Southern Miss, Meadows with a wealth of experience after spending two seasons (2012-13) at Florida Atlantic University, where he was elevated to offensive coordinator midway through the 2013 campaign.
Before joining the staff at FAU, Meadows worked at South Dakota State for 10 years, serving as an offensive line coach from 2002-05 before being promoted to assistant head coach/offensive coordinator (2006-11). He was the longest-tenured assistant on John Stiegelemeier’s SDSU coaching staff for 10 seasons, six as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.
In that time, four players earned All-American honors, one academic honor, 19 selected all-conference and 16 received academic all-conference recognition, while two all-newcomers were awarded to his offensive linemen.
A Hot Springs, South Dakota, native, Meadows began his coaching career as an undergraduate student at SDSU. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1999, he continued as a graduate assistant with the Jackrabbits during the 1999-00 seasons, coaching the running backs, including Jackrabbit career rushing leader and All-American Josh Ranek.
In 2005, Meadows coached an offensive line that helped pave the way for the leading rushing attack in the Great West Football Conference, averaging 227.4 yards per game. During Meadows’ time on staff, the Jackrabbits posted four of the top 10 single-season rushing totals in school history and five of the top 10 singlegame rushing performances. In addition, SDSU recorded four of the top-10 scoring averages in the program’s history, including 35.6 points per game in 2008. The 2008 squad also set an SDSU single-season record with 427 points in 12 games, scoring 40 or more points in a game six times.
With Meadows on the coaching staff, SDSU established 11 team single-game and single-season offensive records, including rolling up 689 yards of total offense in the 2005 Hobo Day victory over Missouri-Rolla. Jackrabbit players he coached also established 30 new individual school records during his tenure. Under Meadows’ guidance, Jackrabbit offensive linemen combined for seven First-Team All-Conference selections, 10 Second-Team selections, and a pair of All-Americans. Mitch Erickson, who ended his collegiate career in 2007 with his third straight First-Team All-Great West Football Conference selection, was nearly a consensus All-America pick within the Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a senior. Likewise, center Ryan McKnight earned multiple All-America honors during his senior season in 2010, including First-Team recognition from the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Also during the 2010 season, the Jackrabbit offensive line ranked second in the Football Championship Subdivision, yielding only six sacks the entire campaign. Erickson signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos and later spent time with the Seattle Seahawks. Casey Knips and Casey Bender, both starters on the Jackrabbits’ 2009 FCS playoff team, received invitations to NFL camps in 2010 with the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns, respectively.
After working as a graduate assistant for South Dakota State (1999-00), Meadows spent a season as offensive line coach at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
Meadows and his wife Rochelle have three children, Daulton, Addyson and Maclane.
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