Michigan OC Chip Lindsey: 'Our goal is to have the most physical and explosive offense in the country'

Michigan Wolverines football offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey has been with the program since December but is set to coach his first practice in Ann Arbor in the coming weeks, when spring ball begins.

Lindsey, who was previously in the same position at North Carolina, coached mostly in the South — with stops at Troy, Auburn, Southern Miss and elsewhere — but is adjusting to life in Ann Arbor, and he’s excited to work under head man Sherrone Moore, who hired him after relieving Kirk Campbell of his duties.

“I felt like he felt like the right fit is what he was looking for, just talking to him through the process and now that I’m here,” Lindsey said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen. “We have a good staff here. We won the national championship here in 2023, so it’s not like we have to really reinvent the wheel. So I think the right fit is probably what I would say.

“And I was looking for that, too. I wanted to be at a place that has a chance to win the whole thing, to win every game — and this is one of those places. Then once I connected with him and got to know him over a short amount of time, I think our vision aligned for what we want to be on offense.

“I love how we approach the game here, I love what our DNA is here. We’re a tough, physical football team, and I think that’ll continue to carry over.”

Lindsey was asked what his offensive philosophy is, and the overarching theme is that he will fit his system to the players to a large degree.

“I’m an old high school coach — I did that for a long time,” the Michigan coordinator said. ‘When you’re a high school coach, your philosophy is built really around your players. What do we do the best, what can our players do? You can run an offense in high school, and if you don’t have the players to do it, you’re not gonna be very successful.

“I think that background helps me in a lot of ways, because we’re trying to identify this spring, who are our playmakers. And it’s pretty simple, let’s try to get them the ball as many times as we can and let those guys go make plays. 

“Philosophically, when I first got into coaching as a high school coach, you’re trying to make it exciting and fun and play fast and be spread and wide open and get kids to come out, especially basketball players who venture over here from football or baseball players who do the same thing. That was kinda the theme, and that’s how I got into college football.

“Once I got into college football and worked with a guy like Todd Monken and Gus Malzahn and guys who had been in the NFL or places where running the football was a premium, I think that’s where I kinda started to see, if I’m ever gonna win a championship and be in that setting — got close, got beat in the national championship game one time — you can’t do that without being able to run the football and be physical.

“That’s what really excited me about this job with Coach Moore. Watching his team from afar. In ‘23 and ‘22, he’s running the offense. And that’s the cool thing. Our DNA is here; it is what it is. It’s been that way for a long time.

“Our goal is to have the most physical and explosive offense in the country, and that’s kinda what our mantra is.”

Lindsey is known for his passing prowess, developing NFL quarterbacks such as Jarrett Stidham and Drake Maye, a New England Patriot who was a first-round pick last year. However, he knows how important the run game is to an offense, especially one at Michigan.

“I think you run the football to set up throwing it down the field,” Lindsey said. “Ten years ago, I would’ve told you probably the opposite. I just think my experience now … that’s what I believe in. The last two years, the previous stop, we had a 1,500-yard rusher. And then when we had Drake Maye, first round pick, he threw for almost over 4,000 yards at the same time.

“When you go back, even at Southern Miss, I was working with Todd Monken there, who’s the OC of the Ravens now, we had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season and 4,000-yard passer. That’s probably the most explosive offense I’ve ever been a part of.

“Those things are rare, but that’s who you gotta be if you’re gonna win the whole thing, and that’s been proven here before. I think the recipe is the same. We have to be able to run the football when we want to do it. You play on the road, you play late in the season, weather is different — that’s important. We gotta be physical and we have to have that mindset.

“At the same time, I want to create explosive plays, and to do that, you gotta be able to throw it down the field — and that’s what we’re really focused on.

“If you quiz me on our team right now, I probably couldn’t pass the test, especially the defensive guys, from the standpoint of recognizing them without a jersey. But watching our team during bowl practice, watching video from last year and so forth and then the pieces we’ve added, I think we’ll have a chance. It’s not gonna be easy. We’ve got a lot of work to do. But it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”