UNC offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey hoping ‘common sense’ prevails for Tez Walker
Imagine being in your first year as offensive coordinator at North Carolina.
You have Drake Maye as your quarterback and all that comes with that — mainly, a lot of touchdowns, points and clutch plays. And hype. That, too.
At the same time, one of the program’s top transfers and a potential star at wide receiver is caught up in NCAA purgatory, his eligibility for the 2023 season anyone’s guess for now.
Welcome to Chip Lindsey’s world.
He’s the new guy at UNC. He has both the luxury of having Maye, the 2022 ACC Player of the Year, to run the offense while dealing with the uncertainty surrounding wide receiver Tez Walker and the school’s appeal to the NCAA.
“We feel like we’ve a great case and we’ll let the people who handle that handle that,” Lindsey said Friday. “I just think at the end of the day you’ve just got to make kind of a common-sense decision.
“If you blanket everything and make a decision just made on that, it’s my opinion are you really doing what’s right for kids, not just at our school but any other school?”
Walker, who played at Kent State the past two years, transferred to UNC on Jan. 9. Two days later, the NCAA altered its rules on transfers, making it tougher for athletes who have transferred more than once in their college careers to be instantly eligible and not required to sit out a year.
Walker’s case is complex. The Charlotte native first looked to play at East Tennessee State in 2019 but suffered a knee injury before his enrollment. Walker then enrolled at N.C. Central, only to have the school cancel its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was on to Kent State, where he finally was able to play football again. When his head coach and offensive coordinator left after the 2022 season, Walker looked to leave, too, entering the transfer portal and coming to UNC.
Then, the NCAA ruling: Walker would not be eligible in 2023. UNC immediately appealed the decision and Gov. Roy Cooper has joined in to support Walker, sending a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker asking for, well, leniency.
Walker continues to practice with the Tar Heels, who open the season Sept. 2 in Charlotte against South Carolina. That has changed his football routine.
“We’re full speed ahead with him,” Lindsey said. “We don’t play for three more weeks. We feel like if things are going to work out for him we’re in a great spot.”
Lindsey was brought in by UNC coach Mack Brown to be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after Phil Luongo left for Wisconsin. Lonnie Galloway is assistant head coach and passing game coordinator who works with the wideouts, Randy Clements coaches the offensive line and Larry Porter the running backs while also serving as special teams coordinator.
Lindsey, 48, was the head coach at Troy for three seasons, then offensive coordinator and QB coach on Gus Malzahn’s staff at Central Florida a year ago. UCF finished 26th nationally in scoring (34.4 points a game) and 11th in total offense (480.6 yards) in 2022.
And now he has Maye? Not a bad way to go. Not a bad spot.
“He can make every throw,” Lindsey said. “The biggest thing for us is just continue to do the things he’s comfortable with and he’s good at.”
Maye was picked to again be the ACC Player of the Year in 2023. There’s Heisman Trophy talk. He’s on the watch lists for any trophy worth winning.
“It’s interesting,” Lindsey said. “If you know him and know his personality, I’ve never seen any signs that anything like that affects him in any way, good or bad.
“He’s just a normal guy. He comes to meetings and practice every day and he’s locked in and focused and trying to get better. He’s a guy who has a very mature mind and doesn’t let his mind drift.”
And Walker? The Tar Heels can only wait on the NCAA to decide on a player chosen preseason All-ACC.
Walker has said a big reason he wanted to be at UNC was to be closer to his ailing grandmother, Loretta Black, who lives in Charlotte. Walker was hoping she might be able to attend the season opener at Bank of America Stadium, see her grandson play.
“She is my rock, my everything,” Walker said in a statement released by UNC after the NCAA ruling.
Lindsey hopes to have No. 9 in his offensive lineup in Charlotte, and Walker on the field giving Maye another target.
“We’re counting on him playing, and we’re looking forward to it,” Lindsey said. “I think that things will work out. I think common sense will prevail on that.”
This story was originally published August 11, 2023 at 4:26 PM with the headline "UNC offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey hoping ‘common sense’ prevails for Tez Walker."
