Chris Huston (00:01.08)
Seven-year National Football League veteran Chris Weinke is in his fourth year as Georgia Tech's quarterbacks coach his third year as the Yellow Jackets co-offensive coordinator and his second year as Tech's assistant head coach. He is also the 2000 Heisman Trophy winner from Florida State. So this year the Heisman Trophy Trust is honoring Chris in New York City on the 25th anniversary of his Heisman season. Chris, welcome to the Heisman Trophy Podcast.

Chris Weinke (00:27.292)
Thanks for having me.

Chris Huston (00:29.314)
Before we get into some reminiscing, I wanted to ask you about Haynes King, who came on the show a couple of weeks ago. He's been so outstanding and seems to get better and better each week. I just wanted to get your impression of King and his impression and his progression this year.

Chris Weinke (00:42.512)
Yeah, no, he's been outstanding. I think I'm fortunate to be able to coach a guy like him. He's everything you want in a player. He's the son of a longtime successful high school coach. He's wired the right way as a high football IQ. He's as tough a guy as I've ever coached. Obviously, his story has been well documented recently. But great leader.

the guy that makes this engine go. He's everything that you'd want. And he has continued to get better each and every year, have a great relationship with him, recruited him when he was coming out of high school in Texas and obviously went to A and then made the move here. So he embodies everything, okay, that you would want in terms of a guy that represents your program, represents his name, his family.

And quite frankly embodies what I believe truly what the Heisman Trophy stands for.

Chris Huston (01:46.318)
Wow, that's a great commendation. Haynes King told me you guys had a great relationship. And it's interesting to me that you can relate so well to each other, given your very different playing styles. You know, you had as you were a classic pocket passer and he's a dual threat. How do you, when you're trying to relay lessons, how do you bridge that gap?

Chris Weinke (01:57.788)
Thank

Chris Weinke (02:05.723)
Yeah, I think there's a lot of foundational things about the quarterback position, whether you're a dual threat or you're a pocket passer, that I truly believe in. I think one thing that Haynes doesn't get enough credit for is his ability to be able to pass the football. Obviously, he runs over 22 miles an hour. His athleticism shows up every week. His numbers speak for themselves. But I truly believe that

We're always trying to find a way to create an advantage when you have a dual threat guy like Haynes and his ability to be able to run the football. Sometimes his passing gets overlooked, but I truly believe that he has honed his skill set in that area. He has gotten better every year. And I look at just the last couple of weeks, the guy's thrown for over 700 yards in two weeks. So he has gotten better every week. Yeah, obviously he's the leader of our football team.

And I hope that he continues on this path to finish out this season strong.

Chris Huston (03:08.952)
Real credit to you and Haynes for getting that done. You hail from Minneapolis area, the twin cities, Cretton Durham High School. You played football, baseball, and hockey. What lit the spark for you as a young athlete? What drove you to compete in so many sports?

Chris Weinke (03:25.217)
Well, I think it was just growing up in an athletic family. I've got a brother that's a year older. I've got a sister that's six years younger. Both my parents were athletes and I think the competitive side. I always say that when you grow up, what is the environment that you're growing up in? And I was in a competitive environment, especially with a brother that's a year older. And for me, was always, hey, I'm always trying to compete against my older brother.

And then I think just growing up in Minnesota, hockey was my favorite sport. It's the one sport I didn't play professionally, but it was the one thing that I loved to do and wish I could have played that as well. But that burning desire to just compete, that competitive character, I think I learned at a young age and it didn't matter what sport I was playing. And I always got in trouble because I had a sister that was six years younger and everybody said, well, you got to let her win sometimes when you're playing some games.

I just never understood that. And I think that's held true throughout my career. wasn't by any means the most talented guy. I clearly wasn't the fastest guy. I wasn't the strongest guy. But one thing I do take pride in is the fact that I said no one was going to outwork me. And I think a lot of the things that I was able to accomplish was one, because I was in that environment where I had a brother that was a year older. I learned how to compete. I obviously had to be tough.

There was a lot of fights where mom said, hey, you guys settle down. So I learned toughness from him. And then just, I always felt like, and I share the story, when I started my first day of high school, I never had a day off until I finished my senior year because I went from football right into hockey, right into baseball, right into summer baseball. Summer baseball is over and I went right into high school football again. So it's all I knew, it's all I understood and it's what I truly loved.

I think that has been lost a little bit these days. Kids are trying to hone their skill set in one sport. And I encourage kids to play multiple sports because I learned a lot of different things playing those three sports.

Chris Huston (05:33.677)
How do you avoid burnout as a young athlete, just spreading yourself out like that? How did you get through that? Or did you ever have an issue with that at any point?

Chris Weinke (05:44.108)
Yeah, you I look back and I never felt like I got burned out. think it's because I played multiple sports, right? The approach and the mindset of those three sports were totally different. I do think that kids that now just pick one sport can get burned out because you're playing it year round. You know, I had the excitement of going to play high school football and then be able to put those pads away and put the skates on and that.

Chris Huston (05:55.693)
Hmm.

Chris Weinke (06:10.895)
created some excitement for me. And then the hockey season was over and I was able to pull out the bat and glove and go play baseball. So for me, I never got burned out. And the ironic thing is when we did have time off, if it was the winter time, we were out playing hockey outdoors on a pond or in the park. And in the summertime, if we didn't have a game, we had some type of either wiffle ball game or game in the park going on. So that's all I knew. That's what I loved.

And so I never really got burned out.

Chris Huston (06:43.575)
So when it came time for you to pick your college, you naturally went down to the warmer climates. But why not stay up north? Why not be around the hockey atmosphere that you so love?

Chris Weinke (06:55.639)
Yeah, you know, it was for me, I was trying to find a place I was going to go play two sports. The original plan was to play football and baseball, and I wanted to find a place that they were going to allow me to do that. I did start to gravitate towards the warmer weather to be able to really throughout the recruiting process, go to where I felt like my best opportunity was to be successful in both those sports, went down there, went through two a days and then decided to sign a major league baseball contract. So I got a little taste of it. And then when I gave up baseball.

That was the one place I did want to go back and play football because that football blood was still running through me. And so I've definitely taken the road less traveled, but enjoyed every mile.

Chris Huston (07:36.619)
You were a big Miami fan, right, because of Steve Walsh coming from Cretin Durham?

Chris Weinke (07:40.028)
Yeah, so growing up in Minnesota, like high school football is very average and you don't see a lot of kids coming out of that state going to play big time college football and the excitement of watching those games as a kid growing up in Minnesota, having a guy that was five years older than me that went to the same high school and had success at Miami and then was playing in the NFL. Like he was kind of the trailblazer for quarterbacks up there. And it kind of.

people started to take notice. And then obviously 10 years after I graduated, Joe Mauer, who was the number one overall pick in the major league draft, also decided that he was going to go to Florida State until he was the number one pick. So I was, I was a huge Miami fan. I didn't know any better. And then when I made the decision, obviously it was Florida State and I truly enjoyed that whole experience.

Chris Huston (08:28.941)
What was it like being recruited by Bobby Bowden?

Chris Weinke (08:31.513)
The best, I tell people all the time that there's not a better human being. I mean, God rest his soul, but he was a great man. First and foremost, he was an unbelievable coach. He treated people with respect. He treated every single player fairly, but not equally. And he made that very clear. He says you get what you deserve or what you earn and had a great relationship with him. Coach Bowden was a huge golfer. He would never play golf with me while I was still in college.

And then once I finished college, one of our favorite things was to go play golf. And so one of the toughest days of my life was the day that I had to go to his funeral. And that was tough, but I had a great relationship with him. I want to tell one story about Coach Bowden. I went down there, went through two a days, and decided to leave and go play professional baseball. That next December, I got a handwritten Christmas card at home that said, if you ever want to come back,

and play college football, you've always got a spot here. So that just speaks volumes about the type of human being he was. I really wanted to be a coach because of him. The lessons he taught in life and the way he treated people. You talk about competitive, he was competitive now. So a lot of those things are the reason that I'm coaching today.

Chris Huston (09:52.174)
Was it a hard decision for you to leave Florida State and go to baseball or did you just feel like it was just too good of an opportunity and no looking back?

Chris Weinke (10:01.793)
Yeah, you know it's hard as an 18 year old kid. You don't really know what you want. And I felt like I went down there, went through two a days and I was smart enough to look around the room and see that Brad Johnson, Casey Weldon, Charlie Ward and a couple other guys were there. And I said, I might not see the field for a while. And then the opportunity came up to to obviously go play professional baseball. And it was another love of mine. And I felt like I may never get that opportunity again.

I enjoyed every minute of it. But I'll say this, that every time that baseball season was over and the fall rolled around, I surely missed football. And that football blood, like I said, was running through me and it made a decision after six years that that's really what I wanted to do. And that's what my heart was telling me to do. And I don't know what I was thinking, but you know, I didn't touch football for seven years and I decided to go back and coach coach Bowden welcomed me back with open arms and

I'm thankful for that.

Chris Huston (11:01.901)
I always wonder just as a what if, if you hadn't stayed at Florida State the first time, do think you would have been as successful or been as done as much as you did the last or later on? Or do you think it just worked out exactly how it could have as well as it could have possibly worked out for you?

Chris Weinke (11:20.731)
Yeah, you know, I truly believe things happen for a reason. I know this, that I was much more prepared and equipped to handle the stresses and pressures that come along with playing big time college football, especially at the quarterback position as an older guy than I was an 18 year old. I learned a lot of life lessons while I was playing professional baseball. I grew up, I matured, and I just felt like I was probably in a better position to handle those things when I went back. Now,

I was way behind because I hadn't played and I knew that I had to continue to work to be able to put myself in a position to compete to play. But I also think the mindset was totally different as a 24 year old than it would have been as an 18 year old.

Chris Huston (12:04.589)
Yeah, it's quite an advantage just from the maturity level side of things. Kickoff classic and your first start. I got off to a great start the next week. the Tory Holt game, welcome to college football, right? What, what was that like just being in that, getting thrown into that cauldron that was just the classic nineties Florida state, just the center of college football really at that time. What was it like being around that whole atmosphere?

Chris Weinke (12:07.129)
Yeah.

Chris Weinke (12:15.951)
That's right.

Chris Weinke (12:33.275)
Yeah, I look back and I say, you you talk about dynasties in college football and we were in the top four 14 consecutive years. That's unheard of. You know, and I look back and I say, you know, I went back and that was a goal and a dream of mine to be the starting quarterback for coach Bowden at Florida State. And, you know, sometimes you have to say, watch out what you wish for. So I put myself in a position, obviously, to, as you alluded to, win the first game.

against Texas A up in New Jersey and came back and we actually, think we had a bye week and we were preparing for NC State. And ironically, I threw a 68 or 69 yard touchdown pass in the first series and then proceeded to throw six interceptions. And so I always say this, as an athlete, you have a defining moment. That was a defining moment for me. I had to make a decision.

Was I gonna allow the outside noise to affect me? Because as you can imagine, there are plenty of people saying get that old man out of here, he can't do it. I think I went nearly 300 passes without an interception following that game and then obviously continued to get better. And fortunately for me, I was surrounded by a lot of good coaches and good players and coach Rick pulled me into his office. was my quarterback coach and the offensive coordinator. He had a picture of every quarterback he's ever coached.

And he told me a story about every single one of those guys that went through some type of adversity similar to that. That helped me get over that. And when you go through those things, the only thing you hope for is, hey, can we play the next game right now? Cuz you wanna get that bad taste out of your mouth. And so learn from it, obviously continue to get better and then we're able to go play in three straight national championship games.

Chris Huston (14:21.613)
Yeah, that had actually been a thing for Florida state quarterbacks. They're, um, the, you guys used to play Miami, uh, first game of the season in the eighties and a lot more often than not, that was a great Miami teams that they would win the first game and then, then Florida state would come back and have that adversity and just, you know, have a great season the rest of the way. that's like, said exactly what happened. You compete for three straight national titles. You didn't lose again until your, your senior year after that NC state game. And,

Those were any one of those teams could have won a national title. One of them did. What was the difference between those three teams that the what separated them that determined, you know, because one could, you know, one was in the title game, one won the title game and one lost the title game. I guess they're all in the title game, but yeah, it's just interesting that, that, it's a fine line, right?

Chris Weinke (15:08.667)
Yeah.

Chris Weinke (15:12.435)
Yeah, there's no doubt. And that was the first of the BCS era. And the first one, I had broken my neck in the 10th game of the season against Virginia. I was not able to play in that game against Tennessee in 1998. I was on the sidelines in the neck brace. And that was probably one of the toughest things I ever had to face. I never had a major injury before. But in that 10th game that season in 1998,

I took a hit and the doctors told me I was a centimeter away from being paralyzed from the neck down. So when I look back at that, I'm one, very thankful. Obviously, they were watching over me. And so that was tough for me. So we lost to Tennessee in that game, obviously came back preseason number one in 1999. We were the first team in college football history to go wire to wire, go undefeated and win the national championship against Michael Vick in the Virginia Tech Hokies and then came back our senior year.

and obviously lost to Miami during the season, but then had an opportunity to come in through the back door to play Oklahoma in the national championship down in Miami. So when you look at those three years, were different variables that came into play. And I think there was adversity in each and every one of those years. We were able to find ways to overcome that adversity. Again, I can't speak for the game I didn't play in, but in 99, obviously we had a great game against Virginia Tech. And then in 2000,

We got beat just flat out got beat. We couldn't do anything offensively. Our top receiver without making any excuses wasn't playing in the game. Snoop Menace coach Rick had already accepted the head coaching job at Georgia. So it was it was a perfect storm, but they played really well. They had a good football team and and and we and we lost. But those experiences playing in three straight national championships being in the top 414 consecutive years is pretty special.

Chris Huston (16:53.122)
Yeah.

Chris Huston (17:04.971)
I think you would have won the 98 one if you had been healthy, pretty sure. And I feel like the Oklahoma one was a little bit of, you guys were just at the, I mean, the intensity of the level you've been playing at for so long at some point, not that you run out of gas a little bit, I guess, with the motivation and then you have Oklahoma was kind of on the rise at that point. So it seemed like one of those kinds of situations. That 90, the 99 game, but the VATEC championship game.

You had a huge game in that one. And I feel like that was really the beginning of your, of your Heisman season in a way. feel like that game was such a closely watched and widely watched game. Michael Vick's real coming out game, but you guys were the ones who, who put your foot on their throats at the end and, dominated you and Peter Warwick. And I feel like that was the beginning of, Chris Wanky is. You know, going to challenge for the Heisman next year. Is that how it looked like from your perspective as well?

Chris Weinke (18:01.345)
Yeah, I think the you know, when you go through an undefeated season and accomplish the things we're able to accomplish. And as you mentioned, a highly viewed national championship game, I think that was I'll never forget playing in that game. And it was it was in New Orleans in the in the Dome. And it was the star of stars all over the sidelines. It was like, wow, this is crazy. But also, when you think about Coach Bowden, right?

It was his opportunity to win a national championship. had never had an undefeated season. The winningest coach in college football history never had an undefeated season. So it was his opportunity. think that was the motivation for us as players. We wanted to give him another national championship and an undefeated season. I think looking back on that game, it was back and forth. We got out to an early lead, and then it was the Michael Vick show. And they actually went up.

29-28 on us and then obviously the game finished up 46-29. We finished them off late in the game, but our defense played outstanding after he had a little run and then, but I do think that was kind of the start. Like people started to notice like, hey, who is this guy? And then we went into the next season and had some more success. like I said, I was blessed. I was fortunate. I had some of the best receivers in college football history playing for me and a really good defense.

I think that is all part of the whole recipe for success, especially winning the Heisman Trophy.

Chris Huston (19:33.911)
The next season, you just got off to a great start. 318 yards versus BYU, 443 against Georgia Tech. You had some massive games that season. 536 yards against Duke. You had 521 against Clemson. Over 4,000 yards passing. Is it just a matter of you being at just the height of your powers, your full maturity, physical, mental, all that kind of thing?

Chris Weinke (20:01.413)
Well, I think it's a great example of there's no substitute for experience, right? Like I was now going into my third year and I try to share that with young quarterbacks. Like we live in this microwave society where we all want everything right now. These high school kids want to sign with you because they say that they want to play right away. They're not ready to play right away. And even though I was older, I wouldn't have been able to be ready to play even when I came back my first year. So, you know, I started my sophomore, junior and senior year, but

I felt like I was at the peak of really my playing time was that third year. I was in the same offense for three years. A lot of the same guys were on that team. There's a comfort level knowing the kind of there's really an unspoken language, right? I'm playing with guys, I look at them, they know exactly what I'm thinking. So I think when you get that opportunity to do that and you do it for three consecutive years.

Chris Huston (20:39.852)
Mm-hmm.

Chris Weinke (20:59.131)
We were hitting on all cylinders and we were able to have a lot of success. And so I do believe that that was a major part of it. Like I had a lot of reps. I played a lot of football. I put myself in a position just through working hard and through experience to be able to lead that offense and really became kind of a coach on the field. I graduated in three and a half years and I had to take one class my senior year. I spent a lot of my time up in the office watching film and spending time with Coach Rick.

Chris Huston (21:19.68)
Yeah.

Chris Weinke (21:28.089)
I was part of the game planning. And so it became a lot of fun for me. And that's when I kind of knew that that's what I wanted to do down the road is be a coach.

Chris Huston (21:30.048)
Right.

Chris Huston (21:39.392)
You were like a colossus back there, Chris. You were just this big dude. you you embodied the swagger that was the Florida State program back there. Guys would just bounce off you in the pocket. It was incredible. And you just, it looked so effortless. Everything you did looked so effortless back there.

Chris Weinke (21:57.781)
Well, I do take pride in my toughness. I'll say that that was the hockey player in me and you know, I felt like you know, the one thing I think people forget is after my after I broke my neck, they did put I played with probably the only quarterback to play with a neck roll. They added some protection to the back of my shoulder pad. So probably looked like I was really bigger than I was. But then people say, well, you couldn't run. And I always share the story that guys.

Listen, when you can find somebody that can run faster 40 yards than I can throw it, okay, then I'll start running it. I said, so I just gave it to the guys that could run. I couldn't, but I could get to them.

Chris Huston (22:35.436)
Who was the guy Florida State the quarterback who was highly touted but he moved to fullback because because I was Yeah, he had a mackerel too, right?

Chris Weinke (22:41.327)
Yeah, so Dan Kendra from Penn... Yes, Dan Kendra came in and was the number one quarterback in the country. It was a year ahead of me. He'd already been there. And we ended up competing in that second spring that I was there. And then he ended up going from 210 pounds to an off-season workout where he came back to camp, 265 pounds. The guy leg pressed like 1200 pounds. Unbelievable athlete, could do the splits.

Chris Huston (22:48.321)
Yeah.

Chris Huston (23:09.025)
I remember.

Chris Weinke (23:09.421)
really, really, really, really unique guy. And he became our fullback. So yeah, we had some characters. There's no question about it.

Chris Huston (23:18.38)
What was the point during that season when you thought, hey, I think I might be able to win the Heisman?

Chris Weinke (23:23.643)
You know, people say, oh, you had to be thinking about it. I'm going to be 100 % honest. I never thought about it. My singular focus was on, hey, I want to be the best that I can be. I would love nothing more than to win back to back national championship. So when that's your focus, and you just want to have success, and you're so driven by that, I always said that things would take care of themselves. If awards and accolades come along with that, great.

If not, I knew that I was going about my business the right way every single day. You know, you start to hear people talk about it, but I was never really focused on it. And quite frankly, still didn't think I was going to win it when I was sitting there in the front row coming out of the commercial break when they were about to announce it. I said, I played in a lot of big games in my life and a lot of different sports. I've never been that nervous in my life. I could remember my foot was my foot was shaking.

It came out of the commercial break and I'm sitting there with Drew Brees, LaDani and Tomlinson and Josh Heiple. And none of us knew who was going to win it. that was again throughout the course of that year, I never really felt like, that's why I was playing or I'm going to try to do this to go try to win it. It was it was never a goal of mine. Obviously, I'm very proud of it. But like I say all the time, every time I talk about this award, it's it's a reflection of.

not only my performance, but the coaches and the players around me.

Chris Huston (24:54.582)
Well, that was at the downtown athletic club. That was the last time the ceremony was at the downtown athletic club, I believe, because after that, there was 9-11 and they had to move it. What was your experience like when you got called? You said you were nervous before the announcement. Was it like this relief? Was the pressure relieved? And did you go up there and have an idea of what you're going to say? What was your plan?

Chris Weinke (25:18.811)
Yeah, you know, it was to me, it was surreal when you walked into the old downtown athletic club, that place was special. You know, as as a kid, excuse me, grown up and you see the old brown walls with all the portraits of the former winners, you're like as a kid, you're saying, yeah, man, I'd love to win that someday. Hey, I'm going to win the Heisman. You're playing catch in the backyard. saying, hey, I'm going to. Now, did you ever think that was would really be a reality? Probably not. But I'll I'll never forget the first time I walked into that room.

because it looks so different on TV than it really was in real life. And I walked in that room and it's almost like you got chills walking in that room. All the portraits hanging on the wall, just very, very, very kind of tight. Felt like the ceilings were low. It just, was crazy. And all I really thought about was the history in that room. The people that have walked through there.

And that award that's been given out to so many special people, like that was probably one of the most memorable times of my career.

Chris Huston (26:23.984)
You won the Heisman at a time when there were still a lot of great legends of the Heisman who were still alive back then. Who are some guys you met at that weekend that kind of stuck in your head?

Chris Weinke (26:36.685)
Yeah, you know, it's crazy. mean, the Rogers, Jay Burwanger used to, you know, we used to have a private Sunday night Heisman kind of ordeal where no one else was allowed to go to it. And it used to be down in the battery and it was no outsiders and just us. And that was the one time, you know, you got to be able to spend time with everybody, cut loose, have some fun, have dinner, have a few drinks and...

Guys like Steve Spurrier, nobody knows this, but the guy's dancing all the time. Like it was his favorite time to go dance on the dance floor. Jay Burwanger, the Rogers, like I said, I'm trying to think, you know, just so many guys that the older guys, when you start to think about the history of this thing, and I didn't say a whole lot at these events. I kind of just sat back and took it all in and felt like, I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

And so, I hadn't been back in a while. Look forward to getting back up to New York this year and celebrating the 25th. I can't believe it's been 25 years. And I'm hoping that the kid that I coach every day is gonna have a seat at the table up there this year.

Chris Huston (27:47.51)
Certainly possible if he keeps playing like he's playing. Finally, I just want to ask you, what has the Heisman meant to you as far as changing your life, as far as opening opportunities? When you reflect on it.

Chris Weinke (27:58.972)
Yeah, yeah, and they tell you the night you win it that forever your life will be changed. And you don't recognize that while it's going on because you're taking everything in. And every year that goes by, it becomes more special. I think anytime you're announced to speak someplace or someone introduces you, it's not just your name. It's followed by 2000 Heisman Trophy winner, and that's special.

and I'll carry that with me. I'm proud of it. Not too shy to say that I earned it. I worked hard for it. But there's a lot of people that helped me get that award. And so it's special. It's going to be special. It's something that they can't take away from me. And I take great pride in that. And I do think that when you look at the landscape of sports across the globe, it is the most special individual award.

and I'm lucky to have one.

Chris Huston (28:59.148)
Well, you know, I've been trying to talk to the other member of the Florida State 1990 quarterback recruiting class for a while. I've talked to Charlie Ward. Finally got to talk to Chris Wanky. Thank you so much for coming on the Heisman Tropy Podcast. We're looking forward to seeing you in New York City in December. And congratulations on a great season with the Yellow Jackets and we will see you New York.

Chris Weinke (29:08.857)
you

Chris Weinke (29:19.643)
Thanks so much for having me.