Everything From Georgia Tech QB Coach Chris Weinke After Tuesday's Fall Camp Practice

Georgia Tech quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke met with the media today after practice and discussed how the quarterbacks are coming along and have been looking in fall camp. Here is everything he had to say

On finding the starting quarterback….

“Starting with just the process of installing a new offense. You bring George (Godsey) in here, who's obviously spent the last 15 years in the league and has a wealth of knowledge. And the challenge was, hey, what can we do as a staff to keep as many things the same as we had previously had, and we did some of that. I'll say this, that we've got more volume in our offense than I would say anybody in the country. George does an outstanding job of putting guys in a position to be successful. With all that being said, there's a burden on the quarterback, right?

There's a ton of verbiage, there's a lot of volume, and there's a lot of players coming in and out. So it's positive from the standpoint if you're trying to prepare for us, good luck. It's also having the ability to include all of these guys on the offensive side of the football. Everybody kind of plays a role. The quarterback is the glue. The most important thing there is, one, I always say this about the quarterback. Does he have the ability to be able to absorb the information? Then can he retain, remember, and recall the information? And then most importantly, can he articulate and execute that information? There's a lot on his plate. We've seen that throughout the course of spring.

We installed more than I've ever installed in terms of 13 installs. Okay, typically you're six to eight in the spring carried over it into the summer and continue to install You got to be very cerebral to play quarterback in this offense Our guys have done an outstanding job of that and feel very comfortable with the way that we're operating right now.”

On Alberto Mendoza absorbing more of the information…

“I think he's obviously one of the smarter quarterbacks I've been around. He's a perfectionist. He's in the building 24/7. It's important to him. This guy will not go into a test without being prepared and having the answers to the test before the test.

So you love that in the quarterback. He does that, you know, and also has suggestions, right, and we're also obviously going to do what he feels comfortable with. I would not say that we're totally getting away with some of the things we did last year, or getting away from it. There still will be a piece of that, and as I just alluded to we'll hit you from a bunch of different directions.I think all of those things that we did in the past, we grab pieces of those and then just continue to grow. So if there's anybody that can handle it, Alberto can handle it.”

On how a quarterback handles more volume…

“Typically in the college landscape of football, you're going to probably get three to five personnel groups, okay? We're going to have 12 to 15 personnel groups, okay? In most offenses in college, you're going to get... six to eight formations, okay. We're going to have 20 to 25 formations, right? We're going to have shifts, motions all those different things, so you start talking about volume and stacking on top of each other.

Okay, the quarterback has to, first of all, have a foundational understanding of how we operate, and then you add all these little nuances, which he has to control. He's obviously the leader of the operation, so in a typical college offense you're going to probably have 80 to 100 plays in your offense. We'll probably have 250.”

On if his experience as a quarterback helps the room…

“I think there's a comfort level with the guys that sit in my room that know that I've sat in their chair, right? For me, it's a little bit easier to absorb this type of offense because I've been in it, I've played in it. It is a true pro-style offense with a lot of verbiage. So I'm more comfortable probably than most people, or some of the new staff that maybe haven't been exposed to that. There's going to be challenges along the way, right?

Like, we never go through a journey without having a bump in the road, and we've had our bumps in the road, and I think… I'm most proud that the guys in the quarterback room have overcome those obstacles and continue to push forward. And that's a testament to those guys, every single one of them in there.

I'm very lucky to be able to coach the guys in my room. So I share with them when they have challenges, right, "Hey, how do we overcome it?" I always say don't complain, don't explain, find solutions. It's my job to find solutions and share those solutions with them because the ultimate goal is to get them to play at a high level with confidence, and that's my job to prepare them.”

On the backup QB competition…

“Yeah, the unique thing about our room is everybody's different. They're all a little bit different ages. You can talk about guys that have been here for a year or two, okay, that were in another offense. Now they've got to. Start all over again, right? So very proud of the way those guys are working, right? They are different styles, right? I think when you look at those guys, you look at Graham and Cole, okay, and Grady, like. They all bring a little bit different something to the table.

So that's our job as coaches that, hey, if one of those guys are playing, okay, it's our job to make sure that the game plan fits what they do best. And they've all done a great job. Listen, they've all had days where they've done really well, and they've all had days where they struggled. That's like any quarterback at any level. But they come in with the right mindset, the right attitude. They make the corrections. We've had a very productive camp.”

On Grady Adamson and Graham Knowles growth and development…

“I think what is really different for us is for them to be able to operate at a high level, you've got to be able to absorb the information, right? And then you have to be a functional thinker. So as you're learning a new language, right, we don't speak it fluently after day two, or after day three or after week two, right. So they've become more comfortable speaking that language. Last week I've really seen the biggest jump of them being able to call the play in the huddle get out operate okay and all the little nuances that come with it. They've been on an upward trajectory, especially within the last week. Going back to what you said, I've been there, right? Try to learn a new offense, man, and you're just struggling. Physically, you're slower, right? You can't operate as fast as you want to. I'm seeing the light come on. I'm very proud of those two.”

On what makes a quarterback a high-level thinker…

“Well, you can tell a high-level thinker by the questions he asks, right? So most quarterbacks are just trying to say, all right, call the play in the huddle. He's (Alberto) already learned and understood the play. He's already asking second-level questions, meaning, all right, hey, if I get this coverage, should I work here first? Should I get this coverage? Should I work here first? So he's already studied it, learned it. He picks it up very quick. But he's thinking about not just the play for us, but how do we attack the defense. The types of conversations you have with this guy are like having a conversation with an NFL quarterback.”

On how the running backs have adjusted to Alberto Mendoza and roles…

“I think the landscape of college football has changed, man. The rosters look different every year, right? And that's new guys at every position. I'll say this, collectively as a unit, those guys have done an outstanding job of spending time together, talking about what they need to do to be successful. I think when you have a quarterback that's willing to take the time to do that, and then you have running backs, which obviously we're going to lean on. I truly believe we got the best running back room in the country.

So if those two are on the same page, and then you look at Coach Mo (Allen Mogridge) and what he's done with our guys up front, it's been impressive. So obviously counting on guys to be able to help us on the perimeter. We know, okay, that everybody's gonna be looking at us to run the football, right? And we're gonna run the football. Whether they know we're going to run it or not, we're going to run it around here. With that being said, we need a cohesive unit to be able to attack them from a bunch of different angles.”

On how working in a variation of offenses have helped him…

“I think I'm very fortunate because I've been in these types of offenses where the quarterback's been asked to carry the load, right? And to have an understanding, be able to operate the thing. As a player, I did it. As a coach, I've done it. And so for me, there's a lot more comfort for my guys sitting in my room that, hey, coach has been there. He's done it. He's had to operate this.

There are little things that I can help them with in terms of how they can take a play maybe that they understood in a different language and apply it to what we're doing. I always try to simplify things for the quarterbacks. My job is to get them to play fast, not in a hurry. I think the better understanding that they have of the offense or however I can help them operate with a sense of urgency, will ultimately help our football team be successful.”

On how having all the plays at the quarterback's disposal helps the offense…

“I mean, we're trying to create mismatches, right? Coach Godsey talks about we're striving for perfection every day, and we are. And, well, how can we be perfect? Well, part of that onus is put on the quarterback because we're not just going to go up to the line and call a play. I call it call it and haul it. We're not going to do that. We're going to put the onus on the quarterback to get us into a good play. So, you know, we could go through the course of a game and have a check with 50% of our plays, right, to get us into the right play.

Well, that takes a lot of studying. You've got to know what you're looking at. That's an estimation. I don't know what other college offenses are, but I mean, maybe I'm a little bit light on 250 if you include all of our shifts, motions, all the different personnel groups, all of that. But it all comes back to the quarterback. Everything comes back on the quarterback. What it does for us is it creates an advantage against the defense.

One, good luck to them figuring out what personnel group we're in. Then we're going to change the picture. Then we're going to change the picture back again. And then we're going to create an advantage for us based on angles in the run game and mismatches in the passing game.”

On being surprised of Haynes King performance in Carolina a few weeks ago…

“No, I've stayed in touch with him. I was so proud of him. Obviously, I know some people over there in Carolina, and they've loved the way that he's gone about his business throughout OTAs, through camp, all that. He was built for this. I was probably the least surprised at the success that he had, and I was so proud of him. So, unfortunately, he got a little dinged up, but he'll be back in the old Haynes as we know him.”

On teaching guys how to make decisions at the line of scrimmage…

“Yeah, and that's why I always say there's a process that you have to go through to be an elite quarterback, right? It does take time. You know, every time I install something, as I said, I try to simplify it, paint a picture for the quarterback so he can visually see what we're looking for. When you do that, okay, if they don't understand it, we just keep going over it, okay? And then we're going to walk through it. And then we're going to put them in a position to force them to make those decisions. We're going to make mistakes along the way.

And when we make those mistakes, it's my job and Coach Godsey’s job to correct those. What I've found is because of the guys in our room, we're not stuck in mud. We're going forward. Very rarely have we made the same mistake twice. For example, we just played a scrimmage on Saturday. We had 14 checks, and we were 14 for 14. So at the end of the day, those guys- that's a testament to them, right? Try to give them the information. Are they absorbing it? Then are they applying it and executing it? And they've done an outstanding job of doing that.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google