LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas football head coach Les Miles made his first hire on the offensive side of the ball, as he announced Chip Lindsey as the Jayhawks' offensive coordinator.
Lindsey, who has two decades of coaching experience, comes to KU after spending the previous two seasons serving in the same role at Auburn.
"It is a great day when you can add a coach like Chip Lindsey to your staff," said Miles. "He has a proven track record of putting exciting, electric offenses on the field and he also has built a strong reputation of developing his players. With the returning players we have on offense and the pieces that we are putting together now in recruiting, we have the potential to be much improved."
After previously working on the Auburn staff as an offensive analyst during the Tigers' SEC Championship and BCS National Championship game run in 2013, Lindsey returned to Auburn in January 2017, as offensive coordinator.
Lindsey is coming to Kansas after two seasons with the Tigers, including the most recent campaign that included wins over Pac-12 Champion Washington and nationally-ranked Texas A&M.
In 2017, Auburn became just the eighth team in SEC history and the first in Auburn history to rush and pass for 3,000 yards in a season. The Tigers also ranked 26th nationally in total offense and set an Auburn record scoring 327 points in SEC play, winning the SEC West. All-SEC quarterback Jarrett Stidham, the second Auburn QB ever to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, led the SEC and ranked ninth nationally in completion percentage. Running back Kerryon Johnson was SEC offensive player of the year, and Ryan Davis set an Auburn receiving record with 84 catches.
Lindsey returned to Auburn from Arizona State, where he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2016.
As offensive coordinator at Southern Miss from 2014-15, he developed the Conference USA 2015 Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Nick Mullens, who ranked second in the league in passing yards (4,145) and TD passes (36) and ranked in the top eight in the nation in both marks in 2015.
The Southern Miss offense broke five single-season school records in 2015: completions (312), passing yards (4,263), total offense yards (6,758), touchdowns (67) and points (528), as the Golden Eagles recorded nine wins, a Conference USA West title, and a berth in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl against Washington.
Lindsey's 2015 Golden Eagle offense ranked fifth in the nation in total touchdowns, seventh in total points, eighth in total passing yards and completions, and 12th in points per game and passing yards per game. The 2015 Golden Eagles tallied more than 4,200 passing yards and just under 2,500 rushing yards. The national leader with 102 explosive plays, they were just the second school in FBS history with a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver and two 1,000-yard rushers.
Prior to his first stint at Auburn, from 2011-12, Lindsey served as head coach at Spain Park (Ala.) High School, leading the school to its first Class 6A regional championship.
Lindsey served as quarterbacks coach at Troy University in 2010, following a long and distinguished career as a prep coach (1997-2009) in football and baseball. At Troy, he coached the 2010 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Corey Robinson.
A two-time Coach of the Year honoree (2008-09) at Lassiter, Georgia High School, he guided the development of Parade All-American Hutson Mason, who broke every single-season state passing record in 2009, including passing yards (4,560) and touchdowns (54). The Trojans went 12-1 and won a regional championship in 2009, and Lindsey received state Coach of the Year honors from the Atlanta Falcons and the Cobb County Touchdown Club. The Associated Press, Marietta Daily Journal and Cobb County Touchdown Club named him the 2008 Georgia Coach of the Year.
Lindsey served as offensive coordinator at Hoover (Ala.) High School in 2007 as the team finished 10-2 and advanced to the third round of the state playoffs. Lindsey's first experience as a head coach came from 2005-06 at Colbert Heights (Ala.) High School, where he earned 2006 Coach of the Year honors from the Florence Times-Daily.
Lindsey spent the 1997-2004 seasons as an assistant coach, including Florence, Deshler, Sparkman, and Springville High Schools in Alabama.
Lindsey played football at the University of North Alabama before transferring as a student to Alabama, where he received his bachelor's degree in history and English in 1997. He earned a master's in educational leadership from the University of Phoenix in 2005.
A native of Madison, Alabama, Lindsey graduated from Bob Jones High School, where he was a three-sport letterman.
Lindsey and his wife Cecily have four children: Claire, Caroline, Cooper and Conner.
