Matt Luke has seen Knoxville. Now, its time for Tennessee's newest football coach to get out of town.

Luke is on the recruiting trail just days after being announced as UT's tight ends and assistant offensive line coach. The former Ole Miss recruiting coordinator didn't seem dismayed by the challenge of recruiting a class already months in the making.

"The good news is with a program like Tennessee, you're going to be in it," Luke said Monday. "When you walk in, you have some great things to sell. Being at a perennial powerhouse every year, that really, really helps out."

Luke said his permanent recruiting territory has yet to be decided.

For now, he'll focus on prospects that have shown interest in UT. That includes trips to Missouri and Florida this week.

He will undoubtedly give the Vols an advantage in Mississippi. Luke was a captain at Ole Miss after his father and brother both played there. His ties to Oxford made the decision to leave a tough one.

"Ole Miss is a great program," Luke said. "I'll always have a spot in my heart for Ole Miss; no doubt about it.

"I felt a good chance for me to branch out. If I ever was to leave the University of Mississippi, I'd be doing it while I was still young."

Luke, 29, came to Knoxville, thanks to his relationship with David Cutcliffe who was named UT's offensive coordinator on Nov. 28. Luke coached under Cutcliffe at Ole Miss and quickly impressed the new head coach with his ability to adjust to a different coaching staff.

"He was pivotal," Cutcliffe said of the senior center in 1998. "It was the year we had to coach in the Independence Bowl (just three weeks after being hired away from UT). I wanted to run our plays, but I didn't want to ask the players to learn a new terminology in 20 days.

"We sat down with him (Luke) because nobody knew the offense better. We put our plays in calling them with their terminology. Without him we wouldn't have been able to do that. He was a coach on the field already as a player."

Luke continued to impress Cutcliffe. After a two-year stint at Murray State, Cutcliffe lured him back home.

"He is just a tremendous football coach, tremendous energy, tremendous intellect for the game," Cutcliffe said. "He gets a lot out of his players. People are going to enjoy his enthusiasm. He's very special.

"He'll end up a head coach one day and people will know a lot about Matt Luke."

Luke was the lone holdover when Cutcliffe was fired last year and Ed Orgeron was hired at Ole Miss. Luke described the situation as "awkward" and said he's glad to be back with Cutcliffe.

"There's not a better person in college football, as far as character-wise," Luke said. "I'm just really glad to be working underneath coach Cut."

The Vols have one vacancy remaining after the departure of three offensive coaches. Most think Luke will take over as recruiting coordinator once UT has a full staff.

"That's still up in the air," Luke said. "That has not been decided."

Luke was very involved in keeping Memphis offensive lineman Michael Oher, the state's top prospect a year ago, interested in Ole Miss during the Cutcliffe-to-Orgeron transition. That was one of the many times when Luke found himself squared off against the Vols in recruiting.

Luke said his positive approach to recruiting -- and refraining from negative recruiting -- will allow him to make a smooth transition to UT.

"I'm at the University of Tennessee," Luke said. "I have a lot of positive things to sell."