Tennessee is expected to announce on Wednesday the hiring of former Vol offensive coordinator and current Georgia OC Jim Chaney as UT’s next offensive coordinator. Contract details and other information will likely be announced at that time as well.
With Chaney coming back to Knoxville, I wanted to take a look at what Chaney’s offenses have been like throughout his entire tenure as an offensive coordinator in the college ranks.
Chaney left Wyoming as their offensive line coach in 1996 to accept the OC position at Purdue, and he stayed with the Boilermakers through the 2005 season. He then left for the NFL where he coached offensive line and tight ends for the St. Louis Rams. He returned to the collegiate ranks when Tennessee hired him in 2009. He wasn’t retained by Butch Jones in 2013 and took the OC job at Arkansas then.
Chaney coached at Arkansas for two seasons, went to Pittsburgh for a year, then was hired on at Georgia as their OC and quarterbacks coach. He was moved to tight ends in 2018 but still was the primary play-caller for the Bulldogs.
Vol fans know Chaney for his time at Tennessee from 2009-12 and for what he’s done at Georgia the last few years. And he has quite the track record when you look at the quarterbacks he’s coached.
Chaney has coached quarterbacks such as Drew Brees, Kyle Orton, Tyler Bray, Brandon Allen, and Jake Fromm, and he’s developed others into good college QBs like Jonathan Crompton and Nathan Peterman.
Numbers can sometimes lie, but they also reveal truths about a coach. And Chaney’s numbers throughout his time as an OC have been remarkably consistent.
Chaney’s offenses will typically average around 30 points per game, 400-plus yards per game, and they’ll convert around 40-45 percent of their third downs and score between 78-83 percent of the time they’re in the red zone. He’s also proven to be diverse in his play-calling, as he’s sometimes had more potent passing attacks while other times relying more heavily on the rushing attack.
In his 19 years as a collegiate offensive coordinator, Chaney’s offenses have averaged 30 or more points 10 times (including twice averaging just over 29 points a game) and have averaged 400 or more yards 11 different times.
Here’s a look at what Jim Chaney’s offenses have done during his time as an offensive coordinator at Purdue, Tennessee, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, and Georgia.
1997 – Purdue
Points: 33.0
Total Yards: 460.2
Passing Yards: 285.2
Rushing Yards: 174.0
Yards Per Play: 6.44
Quarterbacks:
Billy Dicken — 224-of-407, 3,136 yards, 21 TD, 16 INT
1998 – Purdue
Points: 34.2
Total Yards: 445.0
Passing Yards: 323.7
Rushing Yards: 116.2
Yards Per Play: 5.87
Quarterbacks:
Drew Brees — 361-of-569, 3,983 yards, 39 TD, 20 INT
1999 – Purdue
Points: 32.0
Total Yards: 463.4
Yards Per Play: 5.93
Passing Yards: 332.2
Rushing Yards: 129.8
Quarterbacks:
Drew Brees — 337-of-554, 3,909 yards, 25 TD, 12 INT
2000 – Purdue
Points: 31.8
Total Yards: 471.2
Passing Yards: 312.5
Rushing Yards: 158.6
Yards Per Play: 6.00
Quarterbacks:
Drew Brees — 309-of-512, 3,668 yards, 26 TD, 12 INT
2001 – Purdue
Points: 20.8
Total Yards: 306.1
Passing Yards: 204.2
Rushing Yards: 101.9
Yards Per Play: 4.32
Quarterbacks:
Brandon Hance — 136-of-258, 1,529 yards, 8 TD, 10 INT
Kyle Orton — 107-of-216, 1,105 yards, 4 TD, 7 INT
2002 – Purdue
Points: 29.7
Total Yards: 452.2
Passing Yards: 255.7
Rushing Yards: 196.5
Yards Per Play: 5.73
Quarterbacks:
Kyle Orton — 192-of-317, 2,257 yards, 13 TD, 9 INT
Brandon Kirsch — 79-of-134, 8 TD, 5 INT
2003 – Purdue
Points: 26.8
Total Yards: 372.9
Passing Yards: 224.0
Rushing Yards: 148.9
Yards Per Play: 5.10
Quarterbacks:
Kyle Orton — 251-of-414, 2,885 yards, 15 TD, 7 INT
2004 – Purdue
Points: 31.8
Total Yards: 446.5
Passing Yards: 321.2
Rushing Yards: 125.3
Yards Per Play: 5.94
Quarterbacks:
Kyle Orton — 236-of-389, 3,090 yards, 31 TD, 5 INT
Brandon Kirsch — 58-of-94, 711 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT
2005 – Purdue
Points: 30.0
Total Yards: 428.5
Passing Yards: 241.7
Rushing Yards: 186.7
Yards Per Play: 5.67
Quarterbacks:
Brandon Kirsch — 152-of-257, 1,727 yards, 7 TD, 8 INT
Curtis Painter — 89-of-170, 932 yards, 3 TD, 5 INT
2009 – Tennessee
Points: 29.3
Total Yards: 383.6
Passing Yards: 226.4
Rushing Yards: 157.3
Yards Per Play: 5.69
Third Down Percentage: 39.77%
Red Zone Scoring: 87.27%
Quarterbacks:
Jonathan Crompton — 224-of-384, 2,800 yards, 27 TD, 13 INT
2010 – Tennessee
Points: 27.0
Total Yards: 363.8
Passing Yards: 254.5
Rushing Yards: 109.2
Yards Per Play: 5.72
Third Down Percentage: 36.51%
Red Zone Scoring: 75.00%
Quarterbacks:
Matt Simms — 195-of-113, 1,460 yards, 8 TD, 5 INT
Tyler Bray — 124-of-224, 1,849 yards, 18 TD, 10 INT
2011 – Tennessee
Points: 20.3
Total Yards: 332.7
Passing Yards: 242.6
Rushing Yards: 90.1
Yards Per Play: 5.04
Third Down Percentage: 40.94%
Red Zone Scoring: 81.58%
Quarterbacks:
Tyler Bray — 147-of-247, 1,983 yards, 17 TDs, 6 INT
Justin Worley — 48-of-87, 604 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Matt Simms — 27-of-62, 319 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT
2012 – Tennessee
Points: 36.2
Total Yards: 475.9
Passing Yards: 315.6
Rushing Yards: 160.3
Yards Per Play: 6.42
Third Down Percentage: 37.35%
Red Zone Scoring: 86.44%
Quarterbacks:
Tyler Bray — 268-of-451, 3,612 yards, 34 TD, 12 INT
2013- Arkansas
Points: 20.7
Total Yards: 357.2
Passing Yards: 148.5
Rushing Yards: 208.7
Yards Per Play: 5.53
Third Down Percentage: 41.67%
Red Zone Scoring: 78.95%
Quarterbacks:
Brandon Allen — 128-of-258, 1,552 yards, 13 TD, 10 INT
2014 – Arkansas
Points: 31.9
Total Yards: 406.0
Passing Yards: 188.0
Rushing Yards: 218.0
Yards Per Play: 5.76
Third Down Percentage: 46.81%
Red Zone Scoring: 78.57%
Quarterbacks:
Brandon Allen — 190-of-339, 2,285 yards, 20 TD, 5 INT
2015 – Pittsburgh
Points: 28.2
Total Yards: 377.5
Passing Yards: 190.6
Rushing Yards: 186.9
Yards Per Play: 5.76
Third Down Percentage: 43.89%
Red Zone Scoring: 83.33%
Quarterbacks:
Nathan Peterman — 193-of-314, 2,287 yards, 20 TD, 8 INT
2016 – Georgia
Points: 24.5
Total Yards: 384.7
Passing Yards: 193.5
Rushing Yards: 191.2
Yards Per Play: 5.44
Third Down Percentage: 41.75%
Red Zone Scoring: 84.44%
Quarterbacks:
Jacob Eason — 204-of-370, 2,430 yards, 16 TD, 8 INT
2017 – Georgia
Points: 35.4
Total Yards: 435.3
Passing Yards: 176.9
Rushing Yards: 258.4
Yards Per Play: 6.70
Third Down Percentage: 45.64%
Red Zone Scoring: 96.36
Quarterbacks:
Jake Fromm — 181-of-291, 2,615 yards, 24 TD, 7 INT
2018 – Georgia
Points: 37.9
Total Yards: 464.9
Passing Yards: 226.1
Rushing Yards: 238.8
Yards Per Play: 7.05
Third Down Percentage: 47.53%
Red Zone Scoring: 82.6%
Quarterbacks:
Jake Fromm — 206-of-306, 2,749 yards, 30 TD, 6 INT
Justin Fields — 27-of-39, 328 yards, 4 TD, O INT
