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DeAndre Hopkins joins Georgia Tech staff as assistant WR coach

DeAndre Hopkins has joined Georgia Tech's staff as an assistant wide receivers coach after spending time at New England Patriots' training camp. While he hasn't officially retired, his transition to coaching suggests he may not return to playing.

First seen Aug 01, 2026 · 3:00 AM UTC · last updated Aug 01 9:01 PM

Scoring Zone's Take

DeAndre Hopkins taking an assistant wide receivers coaching job at Georgia Tech, on the heels of a visit to Patriots camp, is a strong signal that his playing career may be winding down. He hasn't officially retired, so there's a sliver of ambiguity here, but stepping into a coaching role during what would otherwise be prime training-camp evaluation season is the kind of move players typically make once they've decided the snaps aren't coming. Both sources peg this as a clearly negative signal for his NFL outlook, and the fact that it followed a stint with New England without a contract materializing only reinforces that no team was ready to commit to him as a roster piece.

For draft prep purposes, you should treat Hopkins as effectively off the board. Even in deep dynasty or best-ball formats where he might still be sitting on a roster from last season, this is a clear drop candidate — there's no red-zone role, no target share, and no depth-chart spot to speculate on if he's coaching college receivers instead of running routes on Sundays. Don't hold a bench spot for him hoping for a late-summer signing; the swan-song 2022 comeback stint everyone remembers cost more than it returned, and this move suggests a similar redemption arc is even less likely this time.

Confidence here is solid at 80% per both sources, though the "hasn't officially retired" caveat means you shouldn't treat this as 100% finalized. Still, for fantasy roster construction, spend your late-round or waiver equity elsewhere — Hopkins is not a piece worth planning around.

DeAndre Hopkins apparently took a liking to the coaching profession after spending time with Mike Vrabel's staff at the New England Patriots' training camp.

Georgia Tech has hired Hopkins as its assistant wide receivers coach, the school announced Friday.

"DeAndre is one of the greatest receivers of all-time, but his value to our program goes far beyond the that," head coach Brent Key said, per the school's athletics website. "He has an exceptional knowledge of what we're doing on offense due 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 has played 13 NFL seasons, with five Pro Bowls and three All-Pro campaigns. Though he first rose to the top of his craft during his opening seven years in the league as a Houston Texan, Hopkins also played for the Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, for whom he contributed 330 yards and two touchdowns on 22 catches in 2025.

The stellar wideout's career numbers stand at 13,295 yards and 85 touchdowns on 1,006 receptions.

The possibility that Hopkins, 34, might not suit up again became more of a possibility once he visited some of New England's practices to evaluate coaching rather than playing last week.

By officially joining Georgia Tech's coaching staff, his foot is further still out the door.

However, Hopkins has not announced a retirement.

He'll presumably have years and years to coach. Should an NFL team require a veteran wide receiver weeks into camp, either due to injury or following more evaluation of the position, Hopkins, with a small window left to contribute in cleats, could surely still fill in somewhere as a player.

Coverage from Nfl Dot Com News · by Bobby Kownack · Aug 01, 2026 · read original