The offseason makeover of Georgia Tech’s coaching staff continued in a significant turn late Sunday night. After tight ends coach Chris Wiesehan accepted a job at Temple to coach the offensive line, coach Geoff Collins filled the opening by hiring former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke to coach quarterbacks, two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the AJC Monday morning.
The news was first reported by Rivals.
The departure of Wiesehan after three years – back to the school where he worked for five seasons prior to coming to Tech with Collins – enables new offensive coordinator Chip Long to oversee the tight ends, which is the position group that he has worked the most with in his career. When Long was hired, he was first assigned to coach quarterbacks along with his coordinating duties.
Weinke has been in coaching since 2010 and most recently was an assistant at Tennessee - one season coaching running backs and two seasons coaching QBs - from 2018-20 under former head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Prior to that, he was an offensive analyst at Alabama in 2017 and quarterbacks coach for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams in 2015-16.
His first job in coaching was as director of the IMG Football Academy 2010-14.
Weinke is best known for his playing exploits at Florida State, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2000 and setting multiple school passing records. At Tennessee, Weinke had multiple quarterbacks play for him in his two seasons, Jarrett Guarantano most prominently.
Weinke becomes the third assistant coach on Collins’ staff who has significant NFL experience, joining defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Marco Coleman and new defensive backs coach Travares Tillman. Weinke played seven years in the NFL, mostly with the Carolina Panthers.
The accompanying shift for Long from coaching quarterbacks to tight ends, his expertise, is significant. From his first full-time coaching job in 2010, Long coached tight ends either as a position coach or offensive coordinator every year through 2019 at Illinois, Arizona State, Memphis and Notre Dame. It was only this past season at Tulane that Long coached quarterbacks in addition to his offensive-coordinator duties.
In his three years at Notre Dame, Long worked with four tight ends who went on to be drafted.
Wiesehan worked with Tech’s tight ends for three years, most notably helping Tyler Davis develop into a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft following his one season with the Jackets as a grad transfer.
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