Tech to name Chip Long as new offensive coordinator

Georgia Tech football will have a new offensive mind at the helm of the Yellow Jacket offense this fall as head coach Geoff Collins selected former Notre Dame, Memphis and Tulane offensive coordinator Chip Long to right the ship. Long spent the 2021 season at Tulane as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach after a year at Tennessee as an offensive analyst and three seasons running the Irish offense in South Bend. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2018 at Notre Dame for the nation's top assistant coach in college football.

“I’m honored to be the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech,” Long said in a statement. “I’m unbelievably excited about the wealth of talent, experience and potential that we have on the offensive side of the ball. We have the pieces in place to field a dynamic offense, score a lot of points and develop players for success both at Tech and beyond. I can’t wait to get started on The Flats.”

Matt Zenitz from On3 was the first to confirm our reports on Long along with Yahoo's Pete Thamel.

Tech confirmed the news on Sunday evening with a statement from head coach Geoff Collins:

“I’m excited to welcome Chip, his wife, Kari, and his daughters, Lyla and Alyson, to the Georgia Tech football family,” Collins said. “He has directed some of the nation’s top offenses during his time at Memphis and Notre Dame, has an outstanding record of developing players to reach their highest potential and has the proven ability to put his offenses in the best position to play winning football. Chip’s proven ability as an offensive coordinator is going to be a great fit for the talented players that we have on our roster.”

The Jackets finished 96th in the nation in scoring offense, 92nd in total offense and 98th in red-zone offense. Setting aside a transition season at Tulane, Long's numbers in those categories have been stellar in his career and those are key areas where if the Jackets were a bit better in 2021 they would've been bowling.

For the Jacket tight ends who haven't exactly been major offensive weapons, Long could be a real gift. In his final season in South Bend, the Irish tight ends caught 63 balls on 91 targets for 755 yards and 11 touchdowns. In three seasons under former offensive coordinator, Dave Patenaude Tech tight ends caught just 52 balls on 81 targets for 417 yards and just two touchdowns over three seasons including a year with Tyler Davis who was drafted and is playing in the NFL currently.

Long's offense runs some similar concepts to the spread that Patenaude used but has more motion, more tight ends and more under the center concepts in short-yardage and the red zone as well as more power running play concepts that all play into the Jackets' current personnel.

Discuss the hiring of Chip Long with fellow Tech fans.

Take a look at some highlights of Long's offense at Notre Dame and Tulane.