Troy Made Right Hire in Chip Lindsey

Athletic director Jeremy McClain could not have gone wrong here.

The two widely-reported finalists for Troy’s open head football coaching job, Chip Lindsey and Jon Sumrall, were both quality options.

One particular candidate fit the mold perfectly, however, as far as where the program is and where McClain would like to see it heading.

Lindsey is an Alabama native with previous ties to both the school and McClain. He’s an innovative offensive mind who has worked under Gus Malzahn and impressed enough to be hired by Les Miles.

The former North Alabama quarterback has the experience, connections and resources to be a successful head coach at Troy.

While the fan reaction to the hire was largely welcoming, some took issue with the hire. This will obviously happen, as it has with pretty much every coaching hire ever. Some were disappointed Sumrall wasn’t hired while others had a problem with Lindsey.

I’ll tackle the negative reactions first. It seems the biggest problem folk have with Lindsey is his penchant for packing up and leaving after short stays at various stops.

Let’s go over those stops. Lindsey got his first big job as an offensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi. He worked there for two years under Todd Monken, building a dynamo offense in 2015.

Following that season, Lindsey was offered a chance to move up the ladder after Malzahn recommended him to Arizona State head coach Todd Graham.

This is where the stop-n-go Lindsey narrative begins. After one year with the Sun Devils, Lindsey left for Auburn.

It came as a surprise to many, for fans could not fathom why a coach (who’s over a thousand miles away from home) would return to his home state after being offered a job by a head coach who already had a strong opinion of him.

His short time at Auburn was literally up and down. He bolted after year two as many saw the Malzahn-Lindsey pair to be a bit strenuous, and largely because of the former name.

Then, of course, his time at Kansas was short-lived. Lindsey was offered his first collegiate head coaching job and it was in his home state. Can you blame him?

In his short time in the Bigs, Lindsey has bounced around. The reasoning behind every move, however, is sound and understandable.

Even if he is a stepping-stone coach, those coaches have high motivation and ambition traits. This is all very positive for Troy.

Moving on to the good stuff.

One of Lindsey’s first tasks at Troy is to retain and build on the current class. This shouldn’t be overly difficult for the new ball coach. Lindsey could be a recruiting force in the state of Alabama, tapping into a region the previous staff only occasionally dipped in: Birmingham.

His deep ties to North Alabama will give him a big advantage in recruiting. Who he hires around him will potentially give us an idea of what other key areas will be targeted. It’s also a safe bet that Georgia prospects will remain in the fold.

There should be no drop-off in Troy’s recruiting. Even so, that part of coaching is mostly left up to what follows recruiting: development.

Lindsey knows a thing or two about developing offensive players, especially quarterbacks. This is the man who, in his first college-level job, coached a true freshman who threw for over 3,700 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Some of you may know him, his name is Corey Robinson.

Not too long after, he coached a young quarterback named Nick Mullens. The Southern Miss gunslinger threw for well over 4,000 yards and 38 touchdowns the second year Lindsey coached him.

Mullins started eight games in the NFL this year.

At Arizona State, Manny Wilkins struggled through his first year as a starter but found his stride in the final three games. In those games, which were all Pac-12 games, Wilkins totaled 908 yards and six touchdowns while completing 67.8 percent of his throws.

Troy fans should be excited for what Lindsey could do with a loaded quarterback room, one that includes two players with quality starting experience.

Staying with the offense, fans will also get to see some continuity. Lindsey expressed during Friday’s press conference that the offense will have a similar look to Brown’s and he hopes to retain some of the previous staff.

While I personally believe the focus of Lindsey’s spread will not be as run-heavy as Brown’s, there shouldn’t be much of a difference as far as how it will look and operate.

This was by no means a bad hire. Lindsey has had experience working under big names and running high-octane offenses. McClain was prepared to make this hire, and it shows.

Troy will be just fine.