Tulsa Football Promotes Luke Olson to Assistant Coaching Position

TULSA, Okla. –– Luke Olson, who spent the past four seasons as Tulsa's defensive quality control coach, has been promoted to a full-time coaching position as nickel safeties coach for the Golden Hurricane defense, Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery announced today.

A native Tulsan, Olson has been on the Tulsa football staff for the past seven years. He began his tenure at Tulsa in 2012 as a volunteer coach, assisting with the defensive line, then two seasons as a graduate assistant coach, helping coach the defensive backs.

"Luke has been a part of this program for a long time and has done a fantastic job. He has worked his way through the system and has been an integral part of what we've done defensively with his input and knowledge. Luke also was able to go out on the road and recruit the entire month of January and did an outstanding job and has a solid relationship with Oklahoma High School coaches," said Montgomery.

"He'll be coaching our nickels. That's a key spot for what we do now on defense, and he'll have a lot of different responsibilities. Elevating Luke into this full-time slot will allow our defense to keep growing. He'll continue to be a great asset to our program," added Montgomery.

In his first two seasons as quality control coach, Tulsa reached a bowl game each year, including the 2015 Camping World Independence Bowl and the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl. He now has been a part of three bowl games at Tulsa, also coaching in the 2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Last year, Olson was part of a staff that transitioned the Tulsa defense from a base 4-man front to a 3-3-5 alignment. The Hurricane finished the 2018 season with the nation's 8^th best pass defense, while also allowing opponents 120+ yards less in total offense than a year earlier.

Olson also served as the camp director for the Philip Montgomery Football Camps last summer.

When Olson helped coach the Tulsa defensive line in 2012, the Hurricane defense ranked among the nation's leaders for quarterback sacks, while defensive linemen totaled 32 of 53 team sacks for -205 yards. The Hurricane won the 2012 Conference USA Championship and AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Before coming to Tulsa, Olson was a four-year starter (2008-11) at Southern Nazarene University, where he played free safety and linebacker. Olson was a Central States Football League (CSFL) all-academic selection each year, while earning all-conference accolades in 2009.

Olson earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Southern Nazarene in 2012, while receiving a master's degree in May 2014 from The University of Tulsa in Methods in Educational Research.

Olson played prep football at Tulsa's Union High School.

He and his wife, Keisha, have one son: Lane.

Tulsa Football Promotes Luke Olson to Assistant Coaching Position

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