DeAndre Hopkins has got his first coaching job after a prolific NFL career with franchises like the Titans, Texans, Cardinals, Chiefs and Ravens.
The Tennessee Titans went from facing DeAndre Hopkins at the Houston Texans to having him on their team.
Hopkins was a first-round pick out of Clemson in the 2013 NFL Draft by the Texans. He tormented the Titans for many years, playing for the Texans from 2013-19.
In 2020, he joined the Arizona Cardinals and played for the franchise for three seasons before joining the Titans in free agency in 2023.
The five-time Pro Bowler didn't skip a beat with the Titans. With Will Levis as his starting quarterback, he had a 1,000-yard season in 2023.
Then, things worsened for the Titans the following season, and the team decided to trade him to the Kansas City Chiefs to give him a shot at competing for a Super Bowl.
Hopkins finally played in a Super Bowl, but the Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles that season, 40-22. The Chiefs opted not to re-sign Hopkins, and he played his final year of NFL football for the Baltimore Ravens last season.
Hopkins reunited with former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel at the New England Patriots this offseason, helping out in an assistant role to figure out if he wanted to get into coaching.
It seems that it didn't take long for Hopkins to find his way onto a coaching staff. On Saturday, it was announced in a press release that Hopkins would be joining Georgia Tech as the assistant wide receivers coach.
Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key had this to say about the hire.
“DeAndre is one of the greatest receivers of all-time, but his value to our program goes far beyond that,” Key said. “He has an exceptional knowledge of what we’re doing on offense due to his long relationship with (offensive coordinator) George Godsey and strong familiarity with the ACC, but most importantly, he’s a leader of men that I’m very excited for our players to be around, on and off the field.”
Hopkins is back in the ACC, not as a player but as an assistant coach. He was only with Clemson for three seasons but left the program second in all-time career receiving yards (3,020).
The only person with more in program history than Hopkins is his former college teammate Sammy Watkins (3,391).
Hopkins doesn't have any prior coaching experience, but it's hard to think of a better person to help coach up young wide receivers at the college level.
He'll be bringing his NFL experience to the city of Atlanta with Georgia Tech.
