Chris Weinke

Heisman Trophy winner and seven-year National Football League veteran Chris Weinke is in his third year as Georgia Tech’s quarterbacks coach, his second year as the Yellow Jackets’ co-offensive coordinator and his first year as Tech’s assistant head coach.

Weinke, who has coached or trained prominent prominent NFL quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Nick Foles, Case Keenum, Jared Goff, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill and Kirk Cousins during the course of his career, added another name to his list of standout pupils in 2023 when Georgia Tech’s Haynes King emerged as one of the nation’s top signal-callers. King was one of only two Power Five players with at least 2,800 passing yards, 700 rushing yards, 25 touchdown passes and 10 touchdown runs in 2023, joining Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 pick in the NFL draft Jayden Daniels.

With extensive experience coaching at the high school, college and National Football League levels, Weinke’s resume also includes three seasons at Tennessee (2018 – running backs coach, 2019-20 – quarterbacks coach), a season as an offensive analyst at national champion Alabama (2017), two seasons as quarterbacks coach with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (2015-16) and five seasons as the director of the IMG Football Academy (2010-14), including two seasons as head coach and offensive coordinator (2013-14).

As a player, Weinke won the 2000 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Florida State and led the Seminoles to a national championship in 1999. He went on to be selected in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft and enjoyed a seven-year career with the Carolina Panthers (2001-06) and San Francisco 49ers (2007). A two-sport standout, he was also selected in the second round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft and spent six seasons as a corner infielder/outfielder in the Toronto Blue Jays organization from 1991-96.

A two-time member of the ACC’s all-academic team, Weinke earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from Florida State in 2000. He has two children: a son, Carter, and a daughter, Mallory.

FULL BIOGRAPHY

Heisman Trophy winner and seven-year National Football League veteran Chris Weinke is in his third year as Georgia Tech’s quarterbacks coach, his second year as the Yellow Jackets’ co-offensive coordinator and his first year as Tech’s assistant head coach.

In 2023, Weinke coached Haynes King to one of the most prolific seasons by a quarterback in Georgia Tech history, with the sophomore throwing for 2,842 yards (fourth-most in school history and just 243 short of the school record), 27 touchdowns (second in school history, two shy of program record) and 226 completions (second in school history, 23 short of Tech record). King’s 3,729 yards of total offense were also the second-most in school history (just 65 shy of the school record) and he was one of only two Power Five players with at least 2,800 passing yards, 700 rushing yards, 25 touchdown passes and 10 touchdown runs in ’23 (joining Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 NFL Draft pick Jayden Daniels).

In his first season at Tech in 2022, Weinke guided one of the nation’s youngest quarterback rooms (no one older than a sophomore) through a plethora of injuries. Despite four different signal-callers seeing significant action throughout the season, three different starting quarterbacks won games for the Yellow Jackets and the group threw just nine interceptions in 12 games. In all, the Jackets finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 13th nationally in fewest turnovers lost (13).

Weinke, who won the 2000 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Florida State and led the Seminoles to a national championship in 1999, has extensive coaching experience at the high school, college and National Football League levels. Prior to his arrival at Georgia Tech in 2022, he most recently spent three seasons at Tennessee, as running backs coach (2018) and quarterbacks coach (2019-20).

In addition to his three seasons at Tennessee, Weinke’s coaching resume includes a season as an offensive analyst at national champion Alabama (2017), two seasons as quarterbacks coach with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (2015-16) and five seasons as the director of the IMG Football Academy (2010-14), including two seasons as head coach and offensive coordinator (2013-14).

In Weinke’s first season as Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach (2019), the Vols ranked 11^th nationally and second in the Southeastern Conference in yards per completion (14.4 avg.), en route to an 8-5 record and Gator Bowl victory. Tennessee’s passing offense improved by 13% over the year prior to Weinke becoming the quarterbacks coach.

Prior to his arrival at Tennessee, Weinke served under head coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Daboll (now the head coach of the New York Giants) as an offensive analyst at Alabama. Also working closely with Alabama’s offensive line coach Brent Key (now Georgia Tech’s head coach), Weinke was instrumental in a high-powered Crimson Tide offense that ranked No. 15 nationally and included quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, who are now starting quarterbacks for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins, respectively. Alabama won the 2017 national title with a 26-23 overtime win over Georgia in the College Football Playoff championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Before entering the college coaching ranks, Weinke spent two seasons as quarterbacks coach with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, where he coached now-veteran NFL signal-callers Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Jared Goff. Keenum enjoyed great success under Weinke, throwing for more than 3,000 yards in just 14 starts, while Weinke also helped build the foundation for Goff’s future success as the No. 1 draft pick’s first NFL position coach.

Weinke began his coaching career as the director of football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He launched IMG’s football academy in 2010 and gained extensive experience training quarterbacks for the NFL Draft, including future Pro Bowlers Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill and Kirk Cousins.

With Weinke serving as IMG Academy’s head coach and offensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014, the Ascenders went 19-2 and produced several NCAA Division I student-athletes, including Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois and Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough.

As a player, Weinke put together one of the best careers by a quarterback in college football history at Florida State from 1997-2000. He helped lead the Seminoles to four Atlantic Coast Conference championships in his four seasons at FSU and still owns school records for passing yards (9,839), completions (650) and touchdown passes (79) in a career. His 14 300-yard passing games are tied for the most in FSU history. As a junior in 1999, he threw for 3,105 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 61.5% of his passes en route to a perfect 12-0 record and a 46-29 Sugar Bowl win over Virginia Tech that gave FSU the national championship. As a senior in 2000, he passed for a school-record 4,167 yards and a then-record 33 touchdowns while completing 61.7% of his passes, en route to winning the Heisman Trophy, the Johnny Unitas Award and the Davey O’Brien Award.

Weinke went on to be selected in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft and enjoyed a seven-year career with the Carolina Panthers (2001-06) and San Francisco 49ers (2007).

A three-sport star at Cretin-Derham Hall H.S. in St. Paul, Minnesota (football, baseball and ice hockey), Weinke was selected in the second round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft and spent six seasons as a corner infielder/outfielder in the Toronto Blue Jays organization from 1991-96. He hit 69 home runs, drove in 402 runs and stole 42 bases in 716 professional baseball games, including 164 at the triple-A level, before returning to Florida State to resume his collegiate football career.

In 2024, he was inducted to the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame.

A two-time member of the ACC’s all-academic team, Weinke earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from Florida State in 2000. He has two children: a son, Carter, and a daughter, Mallory.