DeAndre Hopkins appears to be taking the next step in football, and it’s not on the field.
The former All-Pro receiver is reportedly set to join Georgia Tech’s coaching staff as an offensive assistant, a move that comes after he spent a week around Patriots camp in an informal coaching role. Hopkins, who played the 2025 season with the Ravens, finished with 22 catches and never found a landing spot this offseason.
CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported Friday that Georgia Tech is expected to add Hopkins to Brent Key’s offensive staff. Zenitz also noted that Hopkins had been in Atlanta this week visiting with the team and that he has a longstanding relationship with Georgia Tech offensive coordinator George Godsey.
Hopkins’ path toward coaching started to come into focus when he showed up at Patriots training camp in that unofficial role under Mike Vrabel. Vrabel’s time on the Texans staff overlapped with Hopkins’ early years, which helped make that connection possible.
Godsey is the other major link here. He worked with Hopkins in Houston and again in Baltimore, giving Georgia Tech a familiar face for a player who has spent his career around NFL coaching staffs. Godsey and Vrabel also overlapped, so Vrabel may have had some useful insight after Hopkins’ brief time around the Patriots.
The exact job description at Georgia Tech hasn’t been announced, but the expectation is that Hopkins will start in a modest role as he gets his feet wet in coaching. Since he’s joining late in the offseason and would be doing this for the first time, that makes sense.
Even so, Hopkins’ résumé speaks for itself. He enters this next chapter with 1,006 NFL catches and 13,295 yards, a strong enough background to make him a natural fit working with the Yellow Jackets’ wide receivers.
Hopkins still hasn’t officially retired, but the move suggests he may be reading the market the same way everyone else is. Veteran receivers like Stefon Diggs and Keenan Allen have struggled to draw interest, and Hopkins, coming off a limited 2025 season, appears to be looking ahead.
There’s still a chance this isn’t the end of his playing career. His role at Georgia Tech is expected to be loose enough that he could return to the NFL if the right opportunity opens up. For now, though, Hopkins looks ready to see what life on the other side of the headset is like.
In Other News...
Georgia Tech Recruiting Is Turning Heads As Fall Camp Begins
As fall camp begins, Georgia Techs recruiting momentum is becoming a bigger part of the conversation around Brent Keys program. The Yellow Jackets already sit among the ACCs best with 26 commitments, placing them in the conferences top five and giving the staff a class that has turned some heads well before the season starts.
Now comes the harder part: keeping it together. Key and his staff are sorting through evaluations of the committed players while trying to hold off other programs that will keep pushing for flips, and the recent addition of DeAndre Hopkins as assistant wide receivers coach adds another layer to the effort, especially at a position where Georgia Tech would love to keep building. Miami may still be setting the pace in the ACC chase, but the Jackets have put themselves in a position where the next few weeks could matter a lot. [Read more 🡒]
DeAndre Hopkins Gives Georgia Tech Receivers A Huge Chance This Fall
Right before fall camp, Georgia Tech made one of the more eye-catching hires of the offseason, bringing in former NFL star DeAndre Hopkins as an assistant wide receivers coach. A Clemson alumnus with a long professional rsum, Hopkins arrives at a time when the Yellow Jackets are trying to sharpen a receiver room that includes established names like Allen and Fuhrmann along with a wave of freshmen who will be learning the position at the college level.
For Georgia Tech, the appeal is obvious: Hopkins spent years winning with technique, body control and consistency against the best defensive backs in football, and that kind of firsthand knowledge can be invaluable for a group trying to grow together. The timing also makes the move even more interesting, since the start of camp gives Hopkins an immediate chance to work with the room and help accelerate development before the season starts taking shape. [Read more 🡒]