Darin Clifford Hinshaw (born June 6, 1972) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is currently the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

(UCF). Prior to UCF, he was an offensive coordinator at the

University of Alabama-Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

(UAB). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at UCF, where he finished his career as the program's leader in career passing yards and touchdowns.

Playing career

College

Hinshaw was initially recruited by

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

by Galen Hall, but committed to

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

after Hall's successor

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

recruited Hinshaw's high school quarterback rival to play for the Gators. At UCF, he set multiple career program records in both passing yards and touchdowns, many that have since been broken. He was also a member of the school's men's basketball team for the 1993–94 season when they made the NCAA Tournament.

Professional

After going undrafted in the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Th ...

, Hinshaw signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, but only lasted four days with the team. He had brief stints with multiple CFL expansions teams in 1995 before spending two seasons with the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL). He also had stints with the Granite State Warriors of the Eastern Football League and the AFL's Nashville Kats.

Coaching career

Early career

After retiring from professional football, Hinshaw returned to his alma mater

in 1999 as a graduate assistant. UCF promoted him to quarterbacks coach in 2000 working with Coach

Mike Kruczek Michael Francis Kruczek (born March 15, 1953) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is currently the head varsity coach for Trinity Preparatory School of Florida. Playing career Kruczek earned All-America in 1975 as a quarter ...

and Gene Chizik.

Middle Tennessee

Hinshaw was soon hired at

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

as a running backs coach in 2001, working his way up to offensive coordinator by 2005. During his time they won the 2001 Sun Belt Champion. In 2001, the Blue Raiders had two of the top five rushers in the SBC along with the top overall rushing attack. He helped coach both record breaking running backs Dwone Hicks and

ReShard Lee ReShard Lee (born October 12, 1980) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Middle Tennessee State University. Early y ...

. In 2002, the Blue Raiders had the nation's No. 21 ranked rushing offense, a 1,000-yard rusher, and a two of the top eight rushers in the SBC. In 2003, the Blue Raider offense went down as the highest scoring unit in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

at 27.7 points a contest, including four games of 35 points or more. The unit ranked 37th nationally in passing efficiency and had the fifth ranked receiver in the country

Tyrone Calico Tyrone Bernard Calico (born November 9, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. In college, he was the starting receiver for Middle Tennessee State University. College career Calico made 65 receptions ...

Georgia Southern

He left Middle Tennessee to accept the offensive coordinator position at

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

in 2006, where he spent one season as the head of the Eagles offense.

Memphis

Hinshaw was named the wide receivers coach at Memphis in 2007. Under his guidance he helped mentor

Duke Calhoun Duke Calhoun (born September 1, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at the University of Memphis. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agen ...

and

Carlos Singleton Carlos Patrick Singleton (born February 15, 1987) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Memphis. He was signed as an undrafted free agent In professional spo ...

who both set multiple records at Memphis.

Tennessee

He joined the coaching staff at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in 2010 as quarterbacks coach under first-year head coach Derek Dooley. Hinshaw helped direct the Tennessee offense to 5,711 yards in 2012, the second-most in school history. He helped mentor both Matt Simms and Tyler Bray to combined for 3,309 yards passing and 26 touchdowns in 2010. Bray earning SEC freshmen honors three times. In 2011,

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

named him a Top 10 recruiter. 2012, he was reassigned to recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach. In 2012, Coach Dooley was fired at the end of the 2012 season and Hinshaw was not retained on the staff.

Cincinnati

Hinshaw was hired as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 2013 on the staff of another head coach in its first season with their program,

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville ( ; born September 18, 1954) is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football co ...

. In 2013, the Bearcats led the American Athletic Conference in total offense (472.1) and rushing offense (168.3). In 2015, Cincinnati amassed (537.8) yards per game, which was 6th in the nation. Several offensive players went onto the NFL such as Chris Moore,

Parker Ehinger Parker Ehinger (born December 30, 1992) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of Cincinnati. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Early ye ...

Blake Annen Blake David Annen (born May 28, 1991) is an American football coach and former tight end. He played college football at the University of Cincinnati and attended Upper Arlington High School in Upper Arlington, Ohio. He has been a member of the Ph ...

Tion Green Tion Green (born December 14, 1993) is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Cincinnati Bearcats football, Cincinnati, and signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2017. ...

, and Deyshawn Bond. He signed several top recruits such as

Kahlil Lewis Kahlil Lewis (born August 31, 1997) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2020 XFL Draft. In the summer after his senior year of college, he spent ...

and Marquise Copeland.

Kentucky

Hinshaw was named the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in 2016, following Cincinnati offensive coordinator Eddie Gran. He helped lead

to the best season in school history (10-3) and the

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The gam ...

victory against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. The Wildcat offense generated 2,000 rushing yards and 2,000 passing yards three times (2016, 2017 and 2018) during Hinshaw’s tenure, the first time in school history Kentucky accomplished that in three straight seasons. He helped mentor wide receiver and kick returner

Lynn Bowden Lynn Bowden Jr. (born October 14, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky where he was the team's starting quarterback for seven g ...

to learn to play quarterback. Under Hinshaw’s guidance, he excelled and later was honored Manning Award Quarterback of the Week and later won the Paul Hornung Award. He and Gran were fired after the 2020 season when the Kentucky offense ranked towards the bottom in many offensive categories.

UAB

UAB Interim Head coach Bryant Vincent announced the hiring of Hinshaw on July 29, 2022. At UAB as the offensive coordinator, the program set multiple records for total yards (5,697), rushing yards (3,063), yards per game (438.2) and rushing yards per game (235.6). Under his leadership, UAB running back

DeWayne McBride DeWayne McBride (born July 8, 2001) is an American football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UAB, where he was named the 2022 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year ...

turned in the most decorated season in school history, finishing the regular season as the nation's leading rusher with 1,713 yards. McBride would earn the Walter Camp second-team All-America honors, as well as being named the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team Conference USA selection.

UCF

August 2, 2021 he was hired as an analyst returning to his alma mater, UCF. After one-season at UAB, Hinshaw was once again hired by his alma mater

as the offensive coordinator on January 3, 2023.

References

External links

*
UAB profile

UCF profile

Tennessee profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinshaw, Darin 1972 births Living people American football quarterbacks Birmingham Barracudas players Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Cleveland Browns players Georgia Southern Eagles football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches Memphis Mad Dogs players Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football coaches Nashville Kats players Orlando Predators players Ottawa Rough Riders players San Antonio Texans players Tennessee Volunteers football coaches UAB Blazers football coaches UCF Knights football coaches UCF Knights football players UCF Knights men's basketball players People from Punta Gorda, Florida Players of American football from Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Basketball players from Florida