Clyde Christensen was one of the most respected offensive coaches in the NFL. Christensen began his coaching career in 1979 at Ole Miss. After 17 years in the college game, Christensen moved to the NFL in 1996.
After six years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Christensen moved to the Indianapolis Colts, where he’d spend the next 14 seasons in different roles, such as wide receivers coach, assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach.
During his time with the Colts, Christensen worked with a pair of well-known quarterbacks: Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Christensen was never Manning’s quarterback coach but was his offensive coordinator for three seasons. Manning has spoken often about his respect for Christensen.
While he wasn’t Manning’s quarterback coach, he was 2012 No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck’s quarterback coach. Christensen was Luck’s quarterback coach for the first four years of his NFL career and was a critical part of Luck’s early development in the NFL.
Christensen spent the 2023 season as a volunteer offensive analyst at North Carolina, where he played and graduated. The 68-year-old coach retired after the 2022 season after spending his final four NFL seasons as Tampa Bay’s quarterback coach — two of which were with Tom Brady.
In returning to his alma mater as a volunteer, Christensen worked with one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, Drake Maye. Upon taking the job, Christensen compared Maye to Luck.
New #UNC QB guru (volunteer offensive assistant) Clyde Christensen on Drake Maye:
“He has a little bit of Andrew Luck in him just that he’s a deceivingly good athlete and can pull the ball down and run. Can make all the throws. He’s a big guy.”
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) March 21, 2023
Christensen was even more impressed after spending a season with Maye and the Tar Heels. According to Pat McAfee, who played with the Colts for eight seasons — all but one were when Christensen was on staff — Christensen believes Maye is “the guy.”
In speaking to McAfee, Christensen repeated that Maye reminded him of Luck but also said that anyone who passes on Maye will regret it.
Here’s the entire segment from the “Pat McAfee Show,” where he discussed Christensen’s comments on Maye.
The Washington Commanders hold the No. 2 overall pick. Will Washington select Maye or LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels? The Commanders had a large presence at Maye and Daniels’ pro days last week, and Washington head coach Dan Quinn was reportedly extremely impressed with the former UNC star.
For fans who don’t remember how great Luck was, he was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career before abruptly retiring after only seven NFL seasons.