Chris Weinke had no way of knowing that shortly after the regular season ended he would become Georgia Tech’s sole offensive coordinator and primary offensive play caller — for at least one game, anyway.
Weinke, 53, has been on the Tech coaching staff since January 2022, when former coach Geoff Collins hired the former Heisman Trophy winner to be the team’s quarterbacks coach.
“I always say this, when you’re asked to do a job, I only know one way to do it,” Weinke told 680 The Fan on Thursday. “Felt like I’ve spent my coaching career preparing for that opportunity. When I started and launched the IMG Academy down in Florida, I was the head coach, the play caller, so it’s not like I have never called plays. But you prepare yourself over time so that when that opportunity arises you can accept it and do the best you can.”
Over time, Tech head coach Brent Key has made Weinke, whose contract ends Jan. 31, the team’s co-offensive coordinator and associate head coach along with his role of recruiting, coaching and improving the team’s quarterbacks.
Before Tech, Weinke was the quarterbacks coach at Tennessee and had recruited Tech quarterback Haynes King before King chose to play at Texas A&M. Weinke said when King committed to A&M, King’s father, John King, called Weinke and told Weinke the only time he has ever seen Haynes cry was when Haynes had to tell Weinke he wasn’t going to play for Tennessee.
“I respect him as a quarterback evaluator and a quarterback developer,” Key said on 680 The Fan. “(Weinke) has (played) at the highest level. He’s developed some of the greatest quarterbacks that have played in the NFL in the last 10-15 years — trained ‘em, coached ‘em, developed those guys. His vision of what we want in a quarterback, we are 100% aligned in that.”
A three-star athlete in high school in Minnesota, Weinke’s first love was hockey and he had the opportunity to take a college hockey scholarship. He received more than 70 scholarship offers to play quarterback, though, and headed to Florida State after high school to play college football.
But the Toronto Blue Jays had drafted Weinke with the No. 62 overall pick in the 1990 MLB Draft, and Weinke eventually decided to begin his professional baseball career in August of that year.
After journeying through minor league baseball, Weinke returned to FSU in 1997 and would go on to win the Heisman in 2000. Weinke played seven seasons in the NFL before turning to coaching.
Along the way Weinke has yet to be a full-time offensive coordinator.
“Yeah, we’ve talked a lot about that,” Key said of Weinke possible taking over the OC role for Tech’s 2026 season. “Chris is a guy that he’s always gonna try to be better. I love Chris. Chris is a guy that’s been here with me by my side the whole time with this thing. I respect him, because he’ll walk in and tell me what he believes and what he thinks, not what I wanna hear.”
Key has yet to hire an offensive coordinator since Buster Faulkner left the program earlier this month to take the same position at Florida. Key recently said he had at least 36 names of candidates he was considered, and he has reportedly started interviewing some of those candidates, like former Las Vegas Raiders assistant coach Chip Kelly and Nevada Las Vegas offensive coordinator Corey Dennis.
But Key, going into his fourth season in charge of the Yellow Jackets, is continuing to be methodical with the process. He insisted that whomever he picks for the offensive coordinator position won’t be reinventing the wheel.
“The identity of this football team is not changing,” Key added. “There’s an identity we worked our asses off to build for the last going on four years now. Somebody’s not gonna come in and bring their own identity in here. That ain’t changing. They’re gonna be the person that fits this and can elevate us schematically, game-planwise, adjustmentwise during the game, so we can elevate the entire program.”
Weinke has his work cut out for him this week as he and the Jackets (9-3) put the final touches on a game plan to attack the Brigham Young defense in the Pop-Tarts Bowl at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The Cougars have one of the nation’s best defenses in making third-down and red-zone stops, have allowed only 19 points per game, are holding teams to 122.1 rushing yards per game and have recorded 22 takeaways.
Weinke sounds as if he’s relishing the challenge.
“I’ll tell you what we’re doing right now, we are having a lot of fun. There’s a lot of energy out of practice. I’m trying to create an environment where we can instill confidence and I think practice has been going really well,” Weinke said. “I’m excited about it. I’m getting a lot of prep. It’s different than, ‘Hey, you’re the play caller, you got one week to get ready.’ I’ve got time. I take great pride in the work that I do.
“It’s been a tough week. I’m collectively right now going on 9½ hours of sleep this week throughout the whole week. Wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s a great opportunity. The guys that are still in the building have worked their tails off, and as a collective unit we’re putting a plan together and our guys are gonna go play hard.”
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