What is Mizzou getting in offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey?

Coach Eli Drinkwitz wanted experience in a successor to former Mizzou offensive coordinator Kirby Moore.

In Chip Lindsey, he got it.

Lindsey, who’s set to become Mizzou’s new offensive coordinator, has almost three decades of coaching experience, 14 of which have come at the FBS level.

Both Drinkwitz and Lindsey have been mentored by Guz Malzahn, who just wrapped up his first season as Florida State’s offensive coordinator. Lindsey was an offensive assistant under Malzahn in his first season as Auburn’s head coach in 2013. From 2017-18, he was Auburn’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Malzahn, and in 2022, he held the same position at UCF in Malzahn’s second season with the Knights as their head coach.

Drinkwitz, meanwhile, was on the same staff as Malzahn in 2004 at Springdale High School in Arkansas. Drinkwitz was also a quality control coach at Auburn in 2010 when Malzahn was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. When Malzahn became the head coach at Arkansas State in 2012, he brought Drinkwitz with him as ASU’s running backs coach.

Lindsey and Drinkwitz also coached against each other in 2019, when they were at Troy and Appalachian State, respectively. The Mountaineers won 48-13.

So what exactly will Lindsey bring to Columbia?

Flexible identities, but similar foundations

Lindsey likes to lean on the run game, as Lindsey has spoken publicly on numerous occasions about the importance of having a solid ground attack.

However, Lindsey has proved able to coordinate elite offenses using both facets at several stops.

One of those stops was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as the offensive coordinator at Southern Miss in 2014 and 2015. After a dismal 2014 campaign in which the Golden Eagles averaged just 19 points per game, they became one of the best offenses in the nation in 2015 with largely the same personnel. Quarterback Nick Mullens threw for 4,476 yards, as he was one of just 12 FBS quarterbacks with at least 4,000 passing yards that season.

Southern Miss also had two running backs who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards (Ito Smith and Jalen Richard). All three went on to play in the NFL.

Lindsey was also the OC at Auburn in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, running back Kerryon Johnson led the SEC in rush attempts (285) and rushing yards (1,391), while quarterback Jarrett Stidham combined for 36 touchdown passes to just 11 interceptions across both seasons. Both players went on to play in the NFL.

Lindsey’s best work in terms of adjusting to the players he had might’ve been his lone season at UCF in 2022. John Rhys Plumlee was named the starting quarterback that August, and he arrived at the program with an intriguing background. Plumlee had spent his first three seasons at Ole Miss, where he started as a backup quarterback and ran for over 1,000 yards as a freshman before transitioning to wide receiver. He then transferred to UCF after the 2021 season.

Instead of trying to turn Plumlee into a traditional pocket passer, Lindsey centered the UCF offense around the rushing attack, as Plumlee executed plenty of designed quarterback runs and option plays. Three Golden Knights tallied at least 790 rushing yards, including Plumlee, who led the team with 862 (that was also the second-highest total of any FBS quarterback). The Golden Knights went 9-5 and averaged 32.9 points per game.

Lindsey’s best success story, however, could be at North Carolina, where he was the offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024.

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What is Mizzou getting in offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey?

Quarterback Drake Maye, who was selected No. 3 overall by the New England Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft and is a front-runner for the 2025 NFL MVP award, has sung Lindsey’s praises on numerous occasions. While Maye’s production dipped from his redshirt freshman season, in which he led the ACC in most major passing stats, he credited Lindsey with vastly improving his readiness for the NFL in a phone call with former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore when Lindsey was interviewing for the UM offensive coordinator position last year.

Additionally, running back Omarion Hampton led the ACC in rush attempts and rushing yards in both 2023 and 2024.

There are nonsuccess stories with Lindsey’s offenses, too. When he was the head coach and offensive play-caller at Troy from 2019 to 2021, the Trojans regressed in scoring offense each season. This past season, Michigan ranked No. 11 in points per game in the Big Ten.

The following is something that should be considered when looking at these statistics: Offensive coordinators influence the units they lead, but they’re not solely responsible for every outcome, both positive and negative. One commonality between Lindsey’s most successful offenses is that he had a lot of NFL-caliber talent, especially at quarterback.

At Mizzou, Lindsey should have solid players with which to work.

How will Lindsey fit?

Like previous destinations for Lindsey, Mizzou offers promise in both the pass and run game.

Quarterback Matt Zollers only attempted 66 passes in the regular season, but he’s shown glimpses of high-level quarterbacking as a true freshman. He has a cannon arm and a willingness to throw the ball deep down the field. While upcoming transfer portal entry Beau Pribula was superior running the ball, Zollers flashed an ability to scramble and pick up positive yards on the ground, most notably against Vanderbilt.

The Tigers could also bring in a quarterback from the portal. Whether they would directly compete with Zollers for the QB1 spot or would be a surefire backup (i.e., Drew Pyne in 2024) is uncertain. Something to note is that Zollers still has three years of eligibility remaining and has been tabbed as the future of the program at quarterback. Several of the highest-rated QBs intending to enter the transfer portal have multiple years of eligibility left.

Something that MU is likely more sure of for next season is that it’ll have a solid rushing attack, as superstar running back Ahmad Hardy signed a contract extension with the Tigers last week. Backup Jamal Roberts, who ran for 697 yards in the regular season, could return as well, although that remains to be seen (he recently posted a picture of himself running away from a Kansas defender on X with no caption, so do with that information what you will).

The Tigers still have to fill holes at offensive line and wide receiver for 2026. Center Connor Tollison and right tackle Keagen Trost are out of eligibility, while left tackle Cayden Green could declare for the NFL Draft. At wideout, four of Mizzou’s five players who took at least 100 snaps this past season are either out of eligibility or entering the transfer portal.

Whether Lindsey has any influence on Michigan players transferring to Mizzou also remains to be seen, although it seems unlikely. Lindsey reportedly accepted UM’s offer to become its offensive coordinator on Dec. 9, 2024, a few days after the early signing period in which most of Michigan’s Class of 2025 recruits landed with UM, including five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Normally, players who follow offensive coordinators and head coaches to new schools do so not just because of familiarity but also success. Last offseason, former Washington State quarterback John Mateer joined former WSU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle when he took the same position at Oklahoma; the Cougars were a top-five scoring offense in FBS in 2024 at 36.6 points per game.

In November, former North Texas coach Eric Morris accepted the head-coaching position at Oklahoma State. Many have predicted that UNT quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who intends to enter the transfer portal, will follow Morris to OSU.

With Morris calling plays on offense, the Mean Green led the FBS in points per game while Mestemaker led the FBS in passing yards.

The Wolverines, as mentioned previously, were far from a juggernaut on offense this season. Even so, they improved by almost six points per game from 2024 and Lindsey called a lot of run-pass options as well as screens for Underwood, who ran both concepts frequently in high school.

Whomever Mizzou decides to bring in from the portal, Lindsey will have a lot to work with next season. History shows that, when that’s the case, Lindsey’s offenses have scored a lot of points, and at the very least he’s willing to tailor his offense to the strengths of his personnel.