Eli Drinkwitz explains decision to hire Chip Lindsey at Missouri

Missouri underwent a bit of an offensive makeover this offseason, including the addition of new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. The 51-year-old Lindsey replaces Kirby Moore, who was hired away as Washington State‘s new head coach in mid-December.

Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz addressed his new offensive coordinator hire as well as other key additions to his offensive staff, including new quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley, during a postseason press conference Thursday.

“Very excited to get (Lindsey) on our staff. Chip and I have never really worked together but know of each other, we’ve crossed some of the same paths. And I felt like he has a lot of experience in this league — he’s been through these battles and wars, he’s coached at a really high level at a lot of different places and feel like he’s got a low-ego, high-output,” Drinkwitz said of Lindsey on Thursday. “Obviously has a history of quarterback development, has plenty of pelts on the wall from the quarterbacks he’s developed and the offensive schemes that he had. So to be able to bring him in and combine him with the staff we have, bring in some other voices from the outside with (tight ends coach) Alex (Atkins) and Garrett (Riley), I thought has been a really good addition. And I look forward to seeing what they do offensively.”

Lindsey joins Missouri after spending the 2025 season as Michigan‘s offensive coordinator where he helped develop former five-star QB Bryce Underwood as a true freshman last year. Prior to Ann Arbor, Lindsey spent two seasons (2023-24) as North Carolina‘s OC under Mack Brown, where he coached New England Patriots star QB Drake Maye.

Lindsey, who served as Troy‘s head coach between 2019-21, also has coordinator experience at UCF (2022), Auburn (2017-18), Arizona State (2016) and Southern Miss (2014-15). He now joins a rebuilding Missouri offense that will hand the ball to a new starting quarterback in 2026 after last year’s starter Beau Pribula transferred to Virginia in January. Lindsey will now be tasked with further developing former Ole Miss transfer QB Austin Simmons, a junior who missed much of last season with injuries, and sophomore Max Zollers, who started three games in place of an injured Pribula last season as a freshman. Senior quarterback Nick Evers is also in the mix to replace Pribula.

Riley joins the Tigers’ offensive staff as quarterbacks coach after spending the past three years as Clemson‘s offensive coordinator under Dabo Swinney before parting ways this offseason. Riley, the younger brother of USC head coach Lincoln Riley, previously won the 2022 Broyles Award as college football’s top assistant after one season as TCU’s offensive coordinator. That season he helped former backup QB Max Duggan win the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback after leading the Horn Frogs to a national runner-up finish in the 2022-23 College Football Playoffs.