Tennessee's newest hire is off and running.

Matt Luke was scheduled to arrive in Knoxville Thursday just hours after being named the most recent addition to UT's staff. Luke takes over as tight ends coach, the position previously held by Greg Adkins. Adkins was promoted to offensive line coach Wednesday.

Luke will attend UT's orientation classes this morning and be on the road recruiting soon.

It is unclear if the former Ole Miss offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator will serve as UT's recruiting coordinator.

"I am pleased to have Matt join us," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said in a statement. "He is a fine coach, an excellent recruiter and brings a lot of enthusiasm to our staff."

Luke fills one of two positions made vacant by the firings of offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens and wide receiver coach Pat Washington last Saturday.

Luke, 29, just completed his fourth season on the Ole Miss staff. This past year, Luke also accepted the duties of recruiting coordinator under first-year coach Ed Orgeron.

"I'm really, really excited about working with coach Fulmer," Luke said in a statement released by UT. "I played offensive line and coach Fulmer is widely known as one of the top O-line coaches in the country.

"He's a great head coach and I'm excited about what I will learn from him and what I can offer the Tennessee program."

Luke had plenty of ties to break to make the move to Knoxville. Luke's father, Tommy, was a defensive back at Ole Miss in the 1960s and his older brother, Tom, was a quarterback for the Rebels from 1989-91.

Matt Luke was a team captain for the Rebels in 1998 and earned four letters while starting 33 games at center. In 1998, he was selected Ole Miss' Most Valuable Senior by the Jackson (Miss.) Touchdown Club.

After finishing his playing career, Luke remained at Ole Miss as a student-assistant coach under David Cutcliffe during the 1999 season.

On Monday, Cutcliffe was named UT's offensive coordinator.

"There's not a finer man in the profession than Coach Cutcliffe," Luke said. "He has been a tremendous influence on my life and my coaching career. I'm looking forward not only to learning from him but being around him again. We're going to get this thing going and win SEC championships."

Luke's first full-time position was at Murray State, where he coached the offensive line during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He then was re-hired by Cutcliffe and the Ole Miss staff to coach tight ends and the offensive line. He was the only assistant coach retained by Orgeron after Cutcliffe was fired.

"I'm really looking forward to working with everyone on the UT staff," Luke said. "I've heard a lot of great things about Coach Adkins. Anywhere you go, he's highly respected and highly thought of and I'm looking forward to working with such a great coach.

"Recruiting is the life-blood of any program and I know how important it is from my experiences as recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss. I'm looking forward to recruiting the best players in the country because you've got to when you play in the Southeastern Conference. It's the best conference in the country and you've got to have great players."