The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Weinke has Tech QBs aiming higher each day
Former Heisman recipient embraces his expanding role.
Part of Georgia Tech’s continuity on offense this spring includes the vital piece of Chris Weinke returning for his third season with the Yellow Jackets.
A Heisman Trophy winner at Florida State, and one of two on-field coaches (Brent Key being the other) remaining from Tech’s 2022 staff, Weinke was given the added title of assistant head coach to his duties of co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in February.
“One, it’s an honor,” Weinke said Wednesday after Tech’s fifth workout of spring practice. “I didn’t ask for the title, but I’ve built a really good relationship over the years with coach Key. I simply have said to him that, ‘I want to help you any way that I can.’ When you were an assistant head coach and you became a head coach, you wear a lot of different hats. He’s pulled in a lot of different directions. I’m simply trying to ease the stress and anxiety that comes with being a young head coach.
“I’m a resource for him. He throws a lot of things off of me. Ultimately, obviously, we know he runs this program, and I try to help guide him and be a GPS system to help when he asks for it. Great honor. Something I’m proud of, and I take great pride in it.”
Now in his 14th season of coaching, and seventh in the college ranks, Weinke’s 2024 spring with the Jackets is a bit different than his 2023 term. A year ago, Weinke and Tech’s offensive staff had a threeway battle for the starting quarterback spot that continued through the summer and into preseason camp.
This time around, the Jackets know going into the new season that junior Haynes King is the starter and sophomore Zach Pyron is the backup. They form a duo that provides stability at the position and confidence in the possibilities for the offense as a whole.
“There’s no substitute for experience. When you look at this football team, more specifically offensively, we got everybody back — almost everybody. Excited about what we’re doing, but it allows us now to expand on what we did,” Weinke said. “I think as you saw as the (2023 season) went on we became more creative, and now we’ve taken all of those things and we can continue to build because you’ve got, one, quarterbacks that are very cerebral. They understand it. They control our offense, and it allows (offensive coordinator) Buster (Faulkner) and the rest of the staff, obviously, to continue to be creative and add to it. I think it’s probably one of the most exciting offenses in the country.”
King won the starting quarterback job in August and never looked back. The former Texas A&M QB threw for 2,755 yards, completed 25 touchdown passes and also ran for 648 yards and nine scores. Pyron, meanwhile, wasn’t completely forgotten in Tech’s offensive game plans.
An Alabama native who led Tech to a win at Virginia Tech in 2022, Pyron played in eight games in 2023, mostly coming off the bench to give opposing defenses something else to think about. He finished with 29 rushing yards on eight carries and completed four passes for 21 yards.
Pyron will go into 2024 knowing he’s the No. 2, but he’s well aware he better be ready at a moment’s notice to become the No. 1.
“I want to be a lot smarter; I want to elevate football IQ , of course. I feel like you can never learn enough,” Pyron said. “I want to be a lot more accurate. I feel accuracy is one of the most important things for a quarterback. That all starts with my feet, so I’ve really been working hard and have a conscious effort on my feet this spring so far.
“I’d like to be on the field however I can be, just because of my competitive nature.”
Behind the King-Pyron duo, there will be a battle to earn Tech’s thirdstring quarterback spot. Tech signed two freshmen in the 2023 class: Graham Knowles and Aaron Philo. Four other quarterbacks (all walk-ons, Brody Rhodes, Aidan Semo, Ben Guthrie and Colson Brown) also are in the mix.
For all the Tech QBs developing their respective games under Weinke, the veteran assistant doesn’t want them to lose sight of their progress being part of a marathon and not a sprint as they put themselves in position to perform in 2024.
“It’s always a process, right, regardless of how old you are, whether you’re a young guy or you got experience. You always continue to learn, you always continue to develop,” he said. “The challenge I have for my guys every single day is find something to get better at just a little bit each day.
“Over the collective period of time, whether it’s spring ball, it’s the summer leading into camp, if those guys can just focus on those little things, obviously the body of work will be special when it’s all said and done.”