New Troy Head Coach Chip Lindsey addresses media, fans at press conference
Published 3:24 pm Friday, January 11, 2019
Troy’s newest head coach Chip Lindsey stepped to the podium on Friday morning for an introductory press conference inside the Stadium Club at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Less than 24 hours after becoming official, Troy’s 22nd head coach spent a few minutes expressing his gratitude for the opportunity and the plans for the future.
“I am extremely excited to be back home,” Lindsey said. “I consider this a unique and special place for me and my family. I am honored to be leading this program.”
The Trojans said goodbye to former head coach Neal Brown, who was named head football coach at West Virginia.
Lindsey will be tasked with continuing a run of success at Troy University when he runs his first official practice come this spring. The Trojans have reached double-digit wins in each of the last three seasons.
During his introduction of Lindsey, Troy Athletic Director Jeremy McClain expressed the importance of finding a coach that would be able to continue the run of success and that he has no interest in rebuilding. Lindsey accepted the challenge.
“I understand it’s not that way here,” Lindsey said. “I am really embracing that. That’s a challenge. That motivates me every day. I’m excited; that’s fun. I believe that is a big positive about coming back here.”
Lindsey spent the 2010 season with Troy as the quarterback coach. During that time, he coached under Larry Blakeney. While coaching under Blakeney, Lindsey learned the true meaning of being a head coach along with its benefits.
“He told me, standing out there on the field, there are three things you have to remember,” Lindsey said. “Troy is a special place. It’s not special because we are winning, it’s special because of the people. After spending time here and building some relationships, he was exactly right. The second thing was never forget, we are here for our players first. It’s the number one reason we got this job. The third thing was always treat people right. I thought those are three simple and basic things. In a leadership role, you have to remember those things.”
Lindsey believes that while Brown was here, the four-year head coach built a culture at Troy University. A culture that extended way beyond wins. It’s a culture that he hopes to continue to build and define.
“I want to build on this championship culture that has been set,” Lindsey said. “The foundation has been laid by the two previous coaches before me. They were great coaches. Dr. Hawkins mentioned there have been a lot of great coaches here and he is right.”
In 2018, the Auburn Tigers were 48th in the country in scoring offense after they averaged 30.9 points per game. They finished the season with an 8-5 overall record. They defeated Purdue 63-14 in the Music City Bowl.
In 2017, Lindsey helped engineer an offense that surpassed the 3,000-yard mark in both passing and rushing, something that hadn’t been done in Auburn history and it was just the eighth time in Southeastern Conference history.
Lindsey expressed to the audience that his offense will share some similarities to the offense under Brown.
“We are going to play a fun and exciting brand of football,” Lindsey said. “I hope you can casually watch us play and really not see a whole lot of difference in style. That’s what my goal is.”
Lindsey is in the process of building his coaching staff. It was announced earlier in the week that defensive coordinator Vic Koenning would be following Brown to West Virginia to be defensive coordinator of the Mountaineers.
With a few more possibly on their way out as well, Lindsey is hopeful he can obtain some familiar faces.
“I want our players to have a smooth transition,” Lindsey said. “We are in the process (finalizing coaching staff) of doing that now. It’s going to happen pretty quick; I’m pretty confident in that. I think we are in a good spot with most of our staff.”
Lindsey has talked to many of Troy’s incoming recruits. Even with Brown no longer on the sidelines, Lindsey feels like his recruits are still eager to come to Troy.
“Everyone of them to a man gave me confidence that they are coming to Troy,” Lindsey said. “There is no issue there. They have no regrets.”
Lindsey plans to recruit locally. Lindsey began his coaching career coaching high school football in the states of Alabama and Georgia.
“Being a former high school coach, I can’t tell you how many guys reached out. (I) really had relationships,” Lindsey said. “I think that is a huge benefit for our program. We will always recruit Alabama first. You’ve always got a four to five-hour radius. We want to make sure we do that. We have such a great product to sell, we just have to get them on campus.”
Lindsey first came to Troy in 2010 as quarterback’s coach. Things have changed drastically on campus as well as Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“It’s breathtaking really,” Lindsey said. “It has the wow factor. The facilities are second to none. That shows our commitment to athletics and football. How does it compare (to facilities in 2010)? It doesn’t. We are second to none. It’s set up very well.”
The Trojans will officially get the Lindsey Era started next fall and the new head coach can’t wait to get started.
“I’m looking forward to reconnecting with this great community,” Lindsey said. “This is a place that really cares about the university. I remember filling up the stadium and the Vet is rocking. It’s unbelievable.”
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