TAMPA, Fla. — Days after Michigan football closed the regular season with a win over Ohio State, coach Sherrone Moore relieved offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell of his duties, and the watch for a new OC was on.
Would it be former Florida coach Dan Mullen? An up-and-comer like Tulane OC Joe Craddock? Another established head coach with an offensive mind like Jason Candle?
Though North Carolina offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey wasn’t a hot name, he has had prolific offenses, and he ended up being the choice after a few weeks of speculation.
On Monday, Moore explained why Lindsey was the man for the job and what he brings to the table.
“It was a long process talking to a lot of different people, a lot of different coaches,” Moore said. Lindsey is, “ultimately the best fit from a scheme standpoint. He’s done a lot of different things, which I felt like we kind of needed. We don’t want to go too far from what we are and how we were going to do it, but we’re going to do it, how we want to play football, but obviously I think the explosive passing that he’s had and the stuff he’s done really appealed to me.
“The different things: the spread game, the RPO game, and been a part of that, been seeing that, but wanted a different perspective of a guy. But also a guy that wanted to run the football. He had an over 1,000-yard back this year, and then the year before that he had Drake Maye. So he had molded to his best players and did the best things. So ultimately that was the best decision for us.”
“I think it was a factor. It helped that Drake called me, too, so it was a great conversation,” Moore said. “He spoke so highly of him, and I really love Chip, man. He’s been great. The players love him. The coaches love him, but I think he’s going to bring a lot of value to our offense.”
With that in mind, what did Maye say to Moore that helped put Lindsey over the edge?
Though many thought that Maye was a surefire top-five pick regardless of his coordinator in his final year in college football, from what Maye told Moore, that’s not how the former Tar Heels star sees it.
“Just that he felt that he progressed more in his career in that year with Chip than he did at any point in his career,” Moore said. “So he really felt like without him he wouldn’t have got the chance to go so high in the draft. So getting that stamp of approval was really huge for me. But just talking to Chip and bringing him in on an interview was really huge for us.”