“I'm a resource for him. He throws a lot of stuff away from me. At the end of the day, obviously, we know he's running this program and I'm guiding him and We try to be the GPS system that helps him when he asks for it. It's a great honor. It's something I'm very proud of, and I'm very proud of it.”
Currently in his 14th season as a coach and ranked No. 7 in the college rankings, Weinke's 2024 spring with the Jackets will be a little different than his 2023 tenure. A year ago, Weinke and Tech's offense engaged in a three-way battle for the starting quarterback position that lasted all summer and into preseason camp.
This time, the Jackets know that junior Haynes King will be the starter and sophomore Zach Pyron will be the backup for the 2024 season. They form a duo that provides stability in the position and confidence in the overall attacking potential.
“There's no substitute for experience. When you look at this football team, especially the offensive side, we have almost everyone back. I'm excited about what we're doing, but I think it's because of what we've done. Now we can scale things even further,” Weinke said. “I think as[the 2023 season]went on, as you can see, we got more creative. And now we can take all of that and continue to build. Because… Because we have a very intelligent quarterback.'' They understand that. They control our offense, and that allows (offensive coordinator) Buster (Faulkner) and the rest of the staff to continue to be creative and add to it, obviously. I think it's probably one of the most exciting offenses in the country. ”
King won the starting quarterback position in August and never looked back. The former Texas A&M quarterback threw for 2,755 yards and 25 touchdown passes, while also rushing for 648 yards and nine scores. Pylon, on the other hand, wasn't completely forgotten in Tech's offensive game plan.
Pyron, an Alabama product who led Tech to a win over Virginia Tech in 2022, appeared in eight games in 2023, mostly coming off the bench to give opposing defenses something to think about. Ta. He gained 29 rushing yards on eight carries and completed four passes for 21 yards.
Pyron will be heading into 2024 knowing that he is No. 2, but he is also fully aware that in order to become No. 1, it would be better to prepare now.
“Of course I want to be smarter and I want to increase my soccer IQ. I don't think you can ever learn enough,” Pyron said. “I want to be more accurate. I think accuracy is one of the most important things for a quarterback. Everything starts with my feet, so I've been working hard to be conscious of my feet so far this spring.
“I’m a very competitive person, so I like to be on the field as much as possible.”
There will be a battle to be Tech's third-string quarterback behind the combination of King and Pyron.
Tech signed two freshmen for the 2023 class, Graham Knowles and Aaron Philo. Four other quarterbacks (all walk-ons), Brodie Rhodes, Aidan Semo, Ben Guthrie and Colson Brown, are also in the mix to move up the depth chart as well.
For all the Tech QBs who are developing their games under Coach Weinke, the veteran assistant believes their progress will be a marathon, not a sprint, when they are in a position to perform in 2024. I don't want you to lose sight of what it means to be a club.
“No matter how old you are, whether you're young or experienced, it's always a process. You always keep learning, you always keep growing,” he said. “The challenge I give my players every day is to find things that they can do a little bit better every day. Whether it's spring baseball or summer heading into camp, if you look at it in an overall period and if they can do those little things. If you can focus on that, obviously the body of work will be special when it's all said and done.”
