Now that there’s an opening, could the former Heisman winner return to his alma mater?
Florida State’s 2024 season has been nothing short of an abject failure. It was an inevitability that Florida State would find itself upon the Coaching Carousel this season. And yesterday, they finally hopped on the ride.
Alex Atkins has been a hot coaching name for several seasons now, but after a truly dismal season that has seen the Seminoles muster just one win, not to mention the recruiting issues that arose out of the fallout of a show-cause, he and a few other coaches are gone.
It’s a growing trend in college football that schools are calling their alumni home to come coach for them. We saw this quite a bit under Geoff Collins who brought on alumni like Marco Coleman, Tashard Choice, and of course now-head coach Brent Key, among others.
I don’t know that there’s any special magic to hiring an alum to be your coach, but I can understand how it can generate excitement among a fan base that is not particularly excited, especially if the player in question was such a stand-out that they won some prolific trophy named after a former Georgia Tech head coach.
Of course, I’m talking about the former Heisman-winning quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles, and Georgia Tech’s current Co-Offensive Coordinator and QB coach Chris Weinke.
Why it makes sense
Although several (myself included) were a little hesitant when Weinke was first hired, he has done an admirable job working with Georgia Tech’s quarterbacks. It cannot be understated that Haynes King was far from a sure thing when he arrived on the Flats prior to last year. The development that King has demonstrated over the last couple of years has been incredible, and that credit has to go to Weinke.
Beyond that, Weinke has also done a good job of developing the QB room. This past weekend, we saw Weinke and Faulkner combine a half-broken Haynes King with a true freshman at quarterback and run a very effective offense. Although we haven’t seen as much of it this season, Zach Pyron was reportedly getting some offers to come start from other teams during the offseason and decided to stay.
Georgia Tech quarterbacks are starting to become a commodity, and that’s a great thing to see. Quarterback isn’t a position I worry about anymore. I will gladly eat crow on the hesitancy I had when Weinke was initially hired (and then retained by Key).
I think the move also makes sense for Weinke. Although Weinke has proven himself to be a very good coach at Georgia Tech, it could be argued that he is propped up by Buster Faulkner’s offense. Talking to anyone, it generally seems like it’s Faulkner’s show and Weinke is there to help. In taking the job at FSU, Weinke would be going out on his own and rebuilding a pretty bad offense, which would be a real testament to his ability as a coach.
Why it doesn’t make sense
While at Florida State, Atkins coached the offensive line, not quarterbacks. The only other position group that Weinke has coached is running backs, and neither of those positions are currently available. Now, that’s not to say that those positions won’t become available, but they are not at the moment.
I mentioned earlier in the article the trend of alumni returning to their alma mater. I can imagine Florida State might be a little hesitant to jump on that train given their other very prominent alum in the coaching field, but I digress.
The biggest reason I see against this move is that Weinke has never coached the offensive line, and that’s been a tremendous weakness for the Noles. It’s possible that they could hire Weinke and not give him a position group, but personally, I think that’d be a waste. And if FSU moves on from their QB coach, the lone reason disappears.
What’s going to happen?
At this point, I feel confident that Chris Weinke will at least get a call from FSU. Whether he is a serious candidate for the position depends on who else departs from Mike Norvell’s staff and whether or not Weinke is even interested in the job. It’s been reported that Brent Key was very instrumental in landing Weinke at Tech initially due to their relationship. Could that be enough to keep Weinke here? Not a clue!
I don’t know that I have enough of a finger on the pulse of Florida State’s admin/Norvell, but I believe that if Georgia Tech were in a similar position and had the money to hire a guy like Weinke from a conference rival, they would absolutely be making the call.