Catching Up With Our Heisman Winners In The Coaching Ranks

There are a dozen Heisman winners in the NFL and close to that many in broadcasting, in one medium or another, with their headsets on.

But there’s another group of Heisman winners wearing headsets and that’s the collection of trophy-winning greats coaching football.

With about a third of the football season in the books, let’s take stock of how our Heisman coaches are doing, starting with 2000 winner Chris Weinke, Georgia Tech’s assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Weinke is in his fourth year on the Yellowjackets staff, including his second as the assistant head coach and third as co-offensive coordinator.

Weinke has methodically risen through the coaching ranks since retiring from the NFL in 2007. He spent five seasons as the Director of Football at IMG Academy followed by two seasons with the NFL’s Rams as their quarterbacks coach.

He followed that with coaching stints at Alabama (2017) and Tennessee (2018-2020) ahead of joining Georgia Tech’s staff in 2022, helping the Yellowjackets to winning seasons in 2023 and 2024.

This year’s squad is off to a 5-0 start while Weinke mentors starting QB Haynes King, who is one of the leading dual-threat signal callers in the country.

The No. 17 Yellowjackets boast wins over Clemson, Wake Forest and Colorado this season entering this week’s bye. The schedule is favorable when they return with their next six games against teams already with at least two losses. They finish the season against Georgia.

Eddie George is in his first year as the head coach at Bowling Green, the lone Heisman winner as a head coach at the FBS level.

In his debut season with the Falcons, Bowling Green has opened 2-3 with wins over Lafayette and Liberty. The school is also off this week ahead of hosting Toledo on Oct. 11 in a noon ET game televised by ESPNU.

George, the 1995 Heisman winner, spent the previous four seasons as head coach at Tennessee State, rebuilding a Tigers program that culminated with a Big South title in 2024, its first conference championships since 1999. George’s squad also reached the FCS playoffs in 2024 for the first time in more than a decade. 

Overall, Tennessee State was 24-22 under George, including going 8-4 overall and 6-2 in conference last season. He was tabbed as the Big South/OVC coach of the year and a runner-up for the Eddie Robinson national coach of the year.

Carson Palmer, the 2003 Heisman winner, is in his first season as the head coach at his prep alma mater, Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

The L.A. Times caught up with Palmer before his first season started and the USC Heisman winner explained the joy of returning to the high school game, saying: “I enjoy seeing a kid make a mistake, then understand the why and fix it. You don’t get that in the NFL. There, it’s just a job. Here, there’s joy in learning.”

His Eagles are in one of the most competitive leagues in the country with fellow powers Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. Mater Dei, of course, holds the distinction as the only school to produce three Heisman winners in John Huarte (1964), Matt Leinart (2004) and Bryce Young (2021). Leinart was Palmer’s teammate at USC.

Palmer’s squad is ranked No. 16 nationally and has opened the season 3-2, including a win against a top 5 team. Many top 25 matchups remain, which will provide the longtime NFL quarterback-turned-prep coach a host challenges for the rest of the season.

Palmer is not the only Heisman winner leading a prep program.

Ty Detmer, the 1990 Heisman winner, has served as a head coach for American Leadership Academy for five years, first at Queen Creek High for three years and now at Gilbert High since 2024.

Detmer, who also coached at BYU for two seasons, has led his new squad to a 4-1 start.

Of course, there’s another Heisman winner currently in the head coaching ranks, just not in football.

That is 1993 Heisman winner Charlie Ward, who is weeks away from coaching his first game at Florida A&M, where he was named head coach in April.

Ward, the first Heisman Trophy winner to lead a college basketball program, had served as the head coach at Florida High in Tallahassee since 2018, which included a state title in 2022.

Florida A&M is a homecoming of sorts for Ward. His parents not only both attended the school but met as undergraduates there in the late 1950s. Ward’s sister is also an alumna there.

Ward, who has spent 17 years coaching at the high school level, is directing a Florida A&M program that finished 14-17 in the 2024-25 season.

His Bulldogs will play their first exhibition game on Oct. 13 and open the regular season on Nov. 3 against Blue Mountain Christian with a date against Indiana on Nov. 5.

There is a good precedent for Heisman winners in the coaching ranks.

In addition to George, a handful of other Heisman greats served as college football head coaches, including Steve Spurrier (1966), Pat Sullivan (1971), John David Crow (1957) and Frank Sinkwich (1942). 

Johnny Lujack (1947) served two years on Notre Dame’s staff (1952-53) while 1955 winner Howard “Hopalong” Cassady was a scout for the New York Yankees and served as a first base coach for their Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.

Charles White (1979) coached at his alma mater, USC, as a running backs coach from 1993-97. Eric Crouch (2001) served as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Midland University (2018-21).