 Weinke in 2001 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach |
| Team | Georgia Tech |
| Conference | ACC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1972-07-31)July 31, 1972 (age 52) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1997–2000 | Florida State |
| 2001–2006 | Carolina Panthers |
| 2007 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2010 | IMG Academy (director) |
| 2015-2016 | St. Louis Rams (QB) |
| 2017–2019 | Alabama (off. analyst) |
| 2020 | Tennessee (QB) |
| 2021 | Tennessee (RB) |
| 2022 | Georgia Tech (QB) |
| 2023 | Georgia Tech (co-OC / QB) |
| 2024–present | Georgia Tech (AHC / co-OC / QB) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Christopher Jon Weinke (born July 31, 1972) is anAmerican football coach and former football andbaseball player. After spending six years in theToronto Blue Jays minor league baseball system, he enrolled atFlorida State University at the age of 25, and playedcollege football as aquarterback for theFlorida State Seminoles. He thereafter played in theNational Football League (NFL), where he spent most of his career with theCarolina Panthers.
Weinke played minor league baseball in theToronto Blue Jays farm system from 1990 to 1996, advancing to class Triple-ASyracuse Chiefs, before deciding to attend Florida State University. Head coachBobby Bowden had initially recruited Weinke when he was a prep quarterback in 1989 atCretin-Derham Hall High School. After quitting baseball, Weinke called Bowden, and Bowden offered him a scholarship with the 1997 recruiting class. After arriving he quickly distinguished himself as a starting quarterback, leading the team to victory in the 1999national championship. In 2000, at 28, he became the oldest player to receive theHeisman Trophy. He was selected by the Panthers in the2001 NFL draft, where he served mostly as backup quarterback until being released in 2006. He then spent one season with theSan Francisco 49ers before leaving the NFL after the 2007 season.
Weinke only had two victories as a starting quarterback in his NFL career. He won his first ever NFL game in the first game of the2001 Carolina Panthers season, before losing the next 15, finishing the season with a 1–15 record. He also has the second longest losing streak in NFL history at seventeen, behindDan Pastorini (21). Despite this, Weinke is tied withGeno Smith,Tim Tebow,Jameis Winston, andDak Prescott for fifth most rushing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback with six.[1]
| Chris Weinke | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First baseman | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
Weinke was born and raised inSt. Paul, Minnesota, where he attended Cretin-Derham Hall High School and was a three-sport star, playingfirst base for thebaseball team, quarterback for the football team, and was captain of thehockey team. In 1989 during his senior year in high school, he was aParade magazine andUSA Today first-team All-America selection, was named Minnesota's prep football player of the year, and was seen as the top senior quarterback in the country. Weinke was recruited by over seventy Division 1 schools, including Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State, Illinois, Minnesota, Miami, Washington, and Wisconsin, but ultimately signed a national letter of intent and committed to play quarterback for theFlorida State Seminoles ofFlorida State University[2] despite being a diehardMiami Hurricanes fan (due to fellow Cretin-Derham Hall alumnusSteve Walsh attending the school and starring for the team at quarterback).
However, he was also an all-state baseball player and was named to theABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Baseball First Team in 1990.[3] He was drafted in the second round of the 1990Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft (the 62nd player taken overall) by theToronto Blue Jays.[4] After spending four days in August 1990 on the FSU campus, Weinke put his college career on hold and instead signed a contract to playprofessional baseball and reported to theToronto Blue Jays' Class A affiliateMyrtle Beach Blue Jays.[2][5] Head football coachBobby Bowden promised Weinke that he would always have a scholarship offer if he wished to return.
Weinke struggled during his professional baseball career, reaching theClass AA level inMinor League Baseball. However, he led theClass AFlorida State League and the Class AASouthern League inRBIs in 1993 and 1994.[citation needed]
| Chris Weinke | |
|---|---|
| First baseman | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MILB debut | |
| June 1, 1991, for the St. Catharines Blue Jays | |
| Last MILB appearance | |
| August 30, 1996, for the Knoxville Smokies | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .248 |
| Home runs | 69 |
| Runs batted in | 402 |
| Stolen bases | 42 |
| Teams | |
| |
Although he was only one step away from playing in the major leagues, after the 1996 season Weinke decided to give up professional baseball and took a scholarship atFlorida State University.[6]
Weinke entered Florida State University in 1997, when he was 25 years old and joined theFlorida State Seminoles football team as aquarterback. As a sophomore in 1998, Weinke led theFlorida State Seminoles to a 9–1 record and #2 national ranking before a season-ending neck injury by Patrick Kerney in the Virginia game forced him to the sidelines for the rest of the season. During his junior season in 1999, he led the #1-ranked Seminoles to the school's first undefeatednational championship,[7] defeatingMichael Vick and theVirginia Tech Hokies, 46–29. As a senior in 2000, Weinke led the nation in passing with 4,167 yards and won theHeisman Trophy, awarded to college football's best player, as well as theDavey O'Brien Award and theJohnny Unitas Award. He also led the Seminoles to theOrange Bowl for their third national championship game in as many years, where they lost 13–2 to theOklahoma Sooners. At the age of 28, Weinke was the oldest player ever to win the Heisman Trophy. He finished his Florida State career with a 32–3 record and held numerous FSU records including most passing yards in a career and most career touchdown passes. In 2001, Weinke became the seventh Seminole (and second quarterback) to have his jersey retired. He also graduated with a degree in Sports Management and was a two-time ACC All-Academic Team selection.[2]
Weinke was originally recruited by Florida State as part of the same recruiting class asCharlie Ward, another quarterback who also won a Heisman Trophy and led the Seminoles to a national championship. They both were members of the 1990 Florida State football team, but Weinke left to pursue baseball before the 1990 season started.[8]
Weinke was the first Heisman Trophy winner to not be named a consensusAll-American. The consensus All-American honor for quarterback in 2000 went to the Heisman runner-up that year, Oklahoma'sJosh Heupel, now the head football coach at the University of Tennessee.[9]
| Season | Team | Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | |||||
| Florida State Seminoles | ||||||||||
| 1997 | Florida State | 7 | 13 | 53.8 | 82 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 1998 | Florida State | 145 | 286 | 50.7 | 2,487 | 19 | 6 | |||
| 1999 | Florida State | 232 | 377 | 61.5 | 3,103 | 25 | 14 | |||
| 2000 | Florida State | 266 | 431 | 61.7 | 4,167 | 33 | 11 | |||
| College totals | 650 | 1,107 | 58.7 | 9,839 | 79 | 32 | ||||
| Height | Weight | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft4+1⁄4 in (1.94 m) | 226 lb (103 kg) | |||||||||||
| Values from NFL Combine[10] | ||||||||||||
Weinke was selected by theCarolina Panthers in the fourth round (106th overall pick) of the2001 NFL draft.[11] In 2001, he was the starter when the Panthers finished with a 1–15 record. At the time, the Panthers' fifteen consecutive losses in 2001 was a single season record. Weinke averaged 36 pass attempts per game, more than any rookie in NFL history up to that point. After the season, Weinke became the Panthers backup quarterback. He saw his first action since the 2002 season on October 16, 2005, when starterJake Delhomme went down with an injury against theDetroit Lions. Weinke threw a touchdown pass to wide receiverRicky Proehl, giving the Panthers the 21–20 win over the Lions.
He re-signed with Carolina during the 2006 off-season, where he continued to back up Delhomme. On December 10, 2006, in a game against theNew York Giants, Weinke made his first start since 2001. The Panthers lost the game, but Weinke threw for 423 yards, topping the previous single-game team record of 373 set bySteve Beuerlein. Weinke started the next two games against thePittsburgh Steelers andAtlanta Falcons, with the game against Atlanta being his second (and last) win as a starter in the NFL. As a starting quarterback for the Panthers, Weinke's team lost seventeen consecutive games that he started (fourteen in 2001, one in 2002 and two in 2006).
TheSan Francisco 49ers signed Weinke on December 12, 2007, after injuries to quarterbacksAlex Smith,Trent Dilfer andShaun Hill. He started the final game of the 2007 season in a 20–7 loss to theCleveland Browns. Weinke was not brought back by the 49ers for the2008 season.
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | ||
| 2001 | CAR | 15 | 15 | 1–14 | 293 | 540 | 54.3 | 2,931 | 5.4 | 11 | 19 | 62.0 |
| 2002 | CAR | 6 | 1 | 0–1 | 17 | 38 | 44.7 | 180 | 4.7 | 0 | 3 | 26.2 |
| 2005 | CAR | 3 | 0 | – | 7 | 13 | 53.8 | 64 | 4.9 | 1 | 0 | 93.1 |
| 2006 | CAR | 3 | 3 | 1–2 | 56 | 96 | 58.3 | 625 | 6.5 | 2 | 4 | 67.4 |
| 2007 | SF | 2 | 1 | 0–1 | 13 | 22 | 59.1 | 104 | 4.7 | 1 | 0 | 86.2 |
| Career | 29 | 20 | 2–18 | 386 | 709 | 54.4 | 3,904 | 5.5 | 15 | 26 | 62.2 | |
After retirement, Weinke and his family lived inAustin, Texas, where he worked as a vice-president in marketing and event-planning for Triton Financial.[6] In 2010, Weinke teamed withPro Football Hall of Fame coachJohn Madden and became the director of theIMG Madden Football Academy inBradenton, Florida.[12] The academy offers a comprehensive football training program that emphasizes teaching the fundamental techniques of the game. In 2011, Weinke worked with the Carolina Panthers' number one draft pickCam Newton at IMG up to two hours a day during the NFL lockout.[13]
TheSt. Louis Rams hired Weinke as quarterbacks coach on February 19, 2015.[14] The Rams fired head coachJeff Fisher toward the end of the 2016 season.[15] New head coachSean McVay did not retain Weinke, instead hiringGreg Olson.[16]
Following his departure from the Rams, Weinke held a succession of college jobs. He spent the 2017 season on theAlabama staff as offensive analyst.[17]
In 2018, he joined theTennessee staff as running backs coach under new head coachJeremy Pruitt, succeedingRobert Gillespie.[18] Amid staff changes following a disappointing 2018 season, Weinke moved over to quarterbacks coach.[19]
Tennessee fired Pruitt in January 2021 after reports of recruiting violations; Weinke was not implicated in the investigation.[20] New head coachJosh Heupel did not retain Weinke as part of his staff.[21]
Georgia Tech hired Weinke to be quarterbacks coach on January 2, 2022, replacingDave Patenaude.[22] Georgia Tech fired head coachGeoff Collins in the middle of the 2022 season; new head coachBrent Key retained Weinke and promoted him to co-offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.[23] Key promoted Weinke to Assistant Head Coach in advance of the 2024 season.[24]
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