Football
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
After spending his first three seasons as Oregon’s wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator, Matt Lubick was elevated to the position of offensive coordinator prior to the Ducks’ Jan. 2 Valero Alamo Bowl appearance.
He will continue his role tutoring the program’s wide receivers – a specialty he has excelled in for each of the past six seasons.
Lubick possesses a perspective that resonates from 19 years of collegiate coaching experience in no fewer than four different conferences, which paid immediate dividends in Oregon’s success the past three years.
He joined the Ducks’ coaching staff on Jan. 28, 2013 and continued the transformation of Oregon’s receiving corps’ mindset with an aggression that emphasizes attacking the football in addition to being crucial to the success of its running game.
Lubick came to Eugene following three seasons in a similar capacity while also serving as recruiting coordinator at Duke University, culminating his tenure there by being named the nation’s 2012 Wide Receivers Coach of the Year by FootballScoop.com.
A former Pac-10 assistant at Arizona State and Oregon State who also has drawn from his ties in the ACC, SEC and Mountain West conferences, he elevated the talents of a group of veteran receivers to a new level. He assumes much of the credit for the emergence of the Ducks’ Josh Huff and Bralon Addison, with Huff’s numbers from his senior year (62 catches, 1,140 yards, 12 TDs) surpassing a 33-year-old school record for receiving yards and equaling the mark for most scoring catches in one year.
The numbers put up through the air were unprecedented in 2014, as the Ducks posted school-records for passing yards (4,687), completions (326), and first downs passing (198) while recording a conference all-time best 44 touchdown catches.
Seven different receivers hauled in 20 passes or more for the second time in three seasons, however few were more impressive than Byron Marshall. After rushing for 1,038 yards in 2013, Lubick was key to Marshall’s transformation that led him lead the team in receiving with 74 catches for 1,003 yards.
Last year, Addison led the way with 63 receptions while it was Darren Carrington who averaged 19.0 yards per catch each of the past two seasons.
Receivers combined for nine games of more than 100 yards through the air in 2013 – Oregon’s third-most on record – while the 3,789 yards represented the program’s best in 15 years as well as the third-most in school history. They also were key components in hauling in the fourth-most single-season catches (256) in Oregon annals as well as a 291.5-yard average in receiving yards, representing the highest output in eight seasons.
At Duke, Lubick earned national position coach accolades after guiding All-Atlantic Coast Conference wide outs Jamison Crowder and Conner Vernon to record-setting seasons. Crowder caught 76 passes for 1,074 yards and eight touchdowns while Vernon carded a school single-season record 85 catches for 1,074 yards and eight TDs. The pair established an ACC record for most combined receptions by a duo and became just the second tandem in conference history to post over 1,000 receiving yards each in the same year.
Also In 2012, Lubick coached three receivers - Crowder, Desmond Scott and Vernon - who formed the only trio nationally to have 65-plus pass receptions apiece. The group combined for 227 catches for 2,814 yards and 18 touchdowns while helping the Blue Devils to post-season play for the first time since 1994. In addition, Vernon - a three-time all-ACC pick - closed his career as the ACC’s all-time leader in both pass receptions (283) and receiving yards (3,749).
As a result, the 45-year-old Lubick was one of three finalists for the AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year award and one of 29 nominees for the Broyles Award, an honor presented annually to the top assistant coach in the nation.
In 2011, the Blue Devils ranked second in the ACC in passing offense while Vernon became the first player in league history to post multiple seasons with 70-plus receptions. In addition, wide-out Donovan Varner eclipsed the school’s all-time catch record, closing his career with 207 receptions - matching the fourth-highest total in ACC history.
Prior to elevating the Blue Devils’ passing game and recruiting, Lubick spent three seasons (2007-09) on the staff at Arizona State. With the Sun Devils, Lubick served as assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator while coaching the safeties.
Lubick is credited with signing former Ole Miss standout and six-year NFL veteran Dexter McCluster while on staff in Oxford. McCluster was an all-SEC pick in 2009 after becoming the first player in league history to amass over 1,000 rushing yards and over 500 receiving yards in the same season.
In 1995, Lubick got his start in coaching as a student assistant coach and academic supervisor under his father, Sonny, at Colorado State University. He then coached one season (1996) at Cal State Northridge and two campaigns (1997-98) at San Jose State. From 1999-00, Lubick was on the staff at Oregon State where he coached the defensive backs while helping coordinate the Beavers’ recruiting efforts.
A 1995 graduate of Colorado State, Lubick returned to his alma mater for a four-year stint on the coaching staff from 2001-04. Coaching the Rams’ wide receivers, he helped Colorado State to the 2002 Mountain West Conference championship as well as three straight bowl games in 2001 (New Orleans), 2002 (Liberty) and 2003 (San Francisco). Lubick then served two years (2005-06) on the staff at Ole Miss, coaching the wide receivers.
A native of Bozeman, Mont., Lubick attended Western Montana College where he earned four varsity letters as a defensive back on the football team and earned all-conference and NAIA All-America honors as a senior. He earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science from Colorado State in 1995.
