A Butkus in Green Bay? Dick’s nephew joins Packers as assistant offensive line coach
Ryan WoodGREEN BAY – The line dividing the NFL’s oldest rivalry blurs occasionally.
Jim McMahon and Steve McMichael are among Chicago Bears greats whose careers ended in Green Bay. In more recent years, Julius Peppers made the move three hours north. Edgar Bennett and Josh Sitton were among notable Packers who went on to play in Chicago.
Here’s the latest example of switching sides: Dick Butkus’ nephew is now a Packer.
New Packers head coach Matt LaFleur announced a pair of additions to his staff Thursday morning, including Luke Butkus as assistant offensive line coach. Butkus is nephew of Hall of Fame Bears linebacker Dick Butkus. He spent the past three seasons as Illinois’ offensive line coach, and before that spent three seasons as assistant offensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Luke Butkus was a two-time all-Big Ten center at Illinois and spent time in training camps for the Bears and San Diego Chargers..
He also has some Bears experience in his history. After two seasons as a graduate assistant at Oregon, Luke Butkus entered the NFL as the Bears' assistant offensive line coach in 2007. He remained on the Bears' staff working with the offensive line until 2010, after which he spent two seasons as quality control/offensive line coach with the Seattle Seahawks.
In Green Bay, Luke Butkus will assist offensive line coach Adam Stenavich.
LaFleur also beefed up his special-teams coaching staff, hiring a third assistant in Rayna Stewart. The Packers typically carried two special-teams assistants under former head coach Mike McCarthy. Stewart will be special teams quality control coach, a new position for the organization. LaFleur previously hired Shawn Mennenga as special-teams coordinator and Maurice Drayton as assistant special teams coach.
Stewart held the same position at Vanderbilt last season. He has prior NFL experience as defensive quality control coach with the Tennessee Titans for three seasons starting in 2009.