Sallisaw Native Wells Joins Tulsa Football Coaching Staff

TULSA, Okla. –– A veteran offensive coach, Luke Wells, was named tight ends coach at the University of Tulsa, it was announced Monday by Hurricane football head coach Philip Montgomery.

Wells, a native of Sallisaw, spent the past three seasons at Texas Tech coaching the tight ends and inside receivers. He coached three players to Big 12 honors during his Red Raider tenure.

“We're very fortunate to be able to add Luke Wells to our coaching staff. He has a vast amount of experience coaching tight ends for nearly 20 years on the collegiate level,” said Montgomery. “He is an outstanding communicator and does a great job teaching youngmen.”

“Luke has been in our recruiting footprint of Oklahoma and Texas, especially the metroplex, for his entire coaching career. He also brings experience as an offensive coordinator and has coached special teams as well.

“Luke has a great family and will definitely be an asset to our program,” added Montgomery.

Before his Texas Tech stint, Wells spent six years at Utah State. He served as the Aggies' co-offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator from 2013-16, working with the tight ends the first three years and then quarterbacks in 2016. He shifted back to overseeing Utah State's tight ends and inside receivers his final two years, helping the Aggies boast one of the nation's top offenses.

Utah State won 44 games and played in five bowl games during Wells' six seasons, which was highlighted by three 10-win seasons. The Aggies finished 10-4 in only his second season on staff and then added an 11-2 campaign in 2018, matching the school's single season record for wins.

Utah State closed the 2018 season ranked 21st in the final Amway Coaches' poll and 22nd in the Associated Press poll. It marked only the fourth time in school history that the Aggies, who climbed as high as No. 13 during the regular season, ended a year among the top-25 schools in the AP poll.

Offense was a prevalent theme of Utah State's success during Wells' final two seasons as the Aggies averaged 47.5 points per game in 2018, which trailed only Oklahoma among schools nationally. The Aggies racked up 618 points on the season, snapping the Mountain West and Utah State single-season records in the process.

Previously Wells coached wide receivers and tight ends at Iowa State for four years (2009-12), helping the Cyclones to one of their most-successful stretches in their history. Iowa State played in three bowl games during his four seasons, beginning with a 14-13 victory over Minnesota in the 2009 Insight Bowl.

Wells arrived in Ames following six seasons at Louisiana-Monroe where he began as an offensive graduate assistant in 2003 before being promoted to wide receivers and tight ends coach a year later. He served as the Warhawks' recruiting coordinator over his final two seasons, helping Monroe sign its highest-rated class in school history at that time.

Wells earned his first full-time coaching position managing the wide receivers at Denton High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in 2002. He was previously a student assistant at Oklahoma for the first three seasons of Bob Stoops' tenure where the Sooners claimed the 2000 Big 12 Conference crown and the BCS National Championship.

Wells earned his bachelor's degree from Oklahoma in secondary education in 2002. He and his wife Coby have a son, Walker, and a daughter, Kinsley.

Luke Wells Coaching Experience

2019-21 – Texas Tech Assistant Coach (Inside Receivers/Tight Ends)

2017-18 – Utah State Assistant Coach (Inside Receivers/Tight Ends)

2016 – Utah State Co-Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks/Recruiting Coordinator)

2013-15 – Utah State Co-Offensive Coordinator (Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator)

2009-12 – Iowa State Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends)

2004-08 – Louisiana-Monroe Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers/Tight Ends/Recruiting

Coordinator)

2003 – Louisiana-Monroe Graduate Assistant

2002 – Denton High School Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers)

1999-01 – Oklahoma Student Assistant