Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
WVU’s New Receivers Coach Washington Stresses Players’ Tool Box
April 07, 2022 02:18 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.VA. - Tony Washington's plan after graduating from Appalachian State was to put his building science degree to good use by designing homes.
But professional football staged a career intervention.
"I went to Appalachian State and when I was there it was FCS, so the dream of going to the NFL was out there, but it wasn't really like attainable," West Virginia's first-year wide receivers coach said recently. "I remember the first call I got from an agent before my senior year when I was filling out grad school applications for architecture. I had kind of given up on my NFL dream and was focusing on what was next, and then I got that call and realized it might be a possibility.
"So I kind of put my head down, had a great senior year and I ended up getting a chance to play with the (Indianapolis) Colts as a priority free agent and then it kind of took off from there."
He played parts of four seasons in the league with Indianapolis, Jacksonville and New England and soon realized he couldn't get the game out of his system. At one of his stops, he said he was encouraged to pursue football coaching as a career, and he immediately became intrigued.
That led to him landing a graduate assistant position with Louisville and then a full-time job at Coastal Carolina, where he helped the Chanticleers to a two-year record of 22-3, including a 14-2 mark in the Sun Belt Conference.
"I realized the game was in me, and I didn't want to leave it alone and sit behind a desk and crunch numbers for the rest of my life, so I decided to get into coaching," he said.
Now he's coaching Power 5 football at West Virginia and helping build a receivers corps that has some impressive top-end talent in holdovers Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Sam James and emerging sophomore Kaden Prather.
Washington has been impressed so far with what those three have to offer.
"I see a ton of talent, and I see a ton of potential and to me, I see guys that can be among the better receivers in this league," he said. "I think the biggest thing is just hammering down the details and the fundamentals of the position."
What matters to Washington is not what these guys can do, but what these guys can do consistently. When he was in the league, he got a chance to watch T.Y. Hilton perform on a daily basis in Indianapolis. In Jacksonville, it was Allen Robinson and in New England, it was Rob Gronkowski and Brandin Cooks.
These guys were not good by accident, and Washington said he is spending a lot of time explaining to his guys what it takes to get into the league and how to stay there.
"It's a mindset. The best players and the best athletes aren't necessarily playing in the NFL; it's the most consistent guys," he explained. "You can make an amazing one-handed catch one out of 10 times, but that doesn't make you an NFL player. It's the production. You look at the guys who last in the league; there are a lot of flashes in the pan who have a splash year and then kind of disappear. It's the guys who take care of their bodies and do the things on and off the field, that's what takes those guys to the next level."
He continued.
"You don't understand the time and the things they put into the game to get to that level. You just see Sundays. You don't see Monday through Saturday. You don't see their offseason regimen. You don't know the amount of catches they put in, and it's those things these guys have to learn, and you can't wait until you get there. You have to do it now, and that's what I've been preaching to them," he said.
Of course, consistency over the course of their careers is what has kept Ford-Wheaton and James from reaching elite status. Prather is in their league, too, and all three have impressive physical gifts, starting with Ford-Wheaton's off-the-charts size, strength and athleticism.
"(Ford-Wheaton is) one of the most physical specimens I've ever worked with, and I've been a lot of places and I've seen a lot of really good players," Washington admitted. "The size and the ability he has is really good, and I think he can be a phenomenal player.
"For him, it's about being consistent and that concentration and understanding what he is – a big body who can play powerfully. He has the finesse part, but playing more powerfully and using his big body to make catches and I think he will be really good," Washington added.
James is probably West Virginia's most "twitchy" receiver, according to Washington.
"(He has) a lot of quickness and a lot of speed. He's played really well so far, and I've been surprised with him. I like what direction he's going in," he said.
And Prather, a 6-foot-4, 209-pounder from Montgomery Village, Maryland, just oozes talent and natural ability. His ceiling is limitless.
"He's a young kid who really doesn't know how good he is. I think he can be phenomenal – one of the best players I've worked with and could one day be a draft guy," Washington said. "With him it's about understanding how to be locked in every day and being a young guy, sometimes he can slip out of focus."
Washington said Morgantown High product Preston Fox has been catching nearly everything thrown his way this spring and Saraland, Alabama, freshman Jarel Williams has been doing some nice things, but needs to continue getting stronger in the weight room.
"He has a lot of natural traits," Washington said of Williams. "He's kind of slippery and can get open."
Graeson Malashevich and Reese Smith are two other experienced performers, although a tender hamstring has slowed Smith somewhat this spring.
Washington is also going to get a couple of junior college guys this summer in Navarro Community College slot receiver Jeremiah Aaron and Hutchinson Community College outside receiver Cortez Braham. Aaron is reportedly an explosive playmaker who led the junior college ranks in all-purpose yardage and per-game reception yardage while Braham gives the Mountaineers another physical pass catcher on the perimeter.
"I had prior relationships with both of those guys, and they are not totally new to me," Washington said. "Both of them are really good players. It's good having an outside guy and a slot receiver coming in because that allows us to fill some depth issues, and I think those guys have to come in and be ready to play. It's an opportunity they have, and they've got to take advantage of it this year."
As for the guys he's working with right now, Washington is stressing to them the value of having multiple tools in their tool box.
"You are not going to try and do a job with just a hammer or just one move. You've got to have a screwdriver, a wrench and everything else if you are going to get the job done. That's what I'm really trying to empower these guys to do," he explained.
In the meantime, Washington said his No. 1 priority off the field is finding a place for his young family to live. That might require putting his Appalachian State education to good use.
"I'm just trying to move my family up so now that that's done I can really focus on football," he said. "I'm really enjoying the room and really enjoying the coaching staff. We've got a room full of some really good guys and some really good personalities.
"We've got a staff that's very knowledgeable and very mature. We've got great minds like Graham Harrell and coach Brown, who used to coach receivers, and being able to learn from them and just gain on their knowledge has been a blessing so far," he concluded.
West Virginia wrapped up its eighth spring practice this morning and is scheduled to have workouts on Friday and Saturday to conclude the week.
The Mountaineers have practices planned for Tuesday and Thursday next week before hitting the pause button for Easter weekend. Practices are then slated for Tuesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 21 leading into the Gold-Blue Spring Game on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
But professional football staged a career intervention.
"I went to Appalachian State and when I was there it was FCS, so the dream of going to the NFL was out there, but it wasn't really like attainable," West Virginia's first-year wide receivers coach said recently. "I remember the first call I got from an agent before my senior year when I was filling out grad school applications for architecture. I had kind of given up on my NFL dream and was focusing on what was next, and then I got that call and realized it might be a possibility.
"So I kind of put my head down, had a great senior year and I ended up getting a chance to play with the (Indianapolis) Colts as a priority free agent and then it kind of took off from there."
He played parts of four seasons in the league with Indianapolis, Jacksonville and New England and soon realized he couldn't get the game out of his system. At one of his stops, he said he was encouraged to pursue football coaching as a career, and he immediately became intrigued.
That led to him landing a graduate assistant position with Louisville and then a full-time job at Coastal Carolina, where he helped the Chanticleers to a two-year record of 22-3, including a 14-2 mark in the Sun Belt Conference.
"I realized the game was in me, and I didn't want to leave it alone and sit behind a desk and crunch numbers for the rest of my life, so I decided to get into coaching," he said.
Now he's coaching Power 5 football at West Virginia and helping build a receivers corps that has some impressive top-end talent in holdovers Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Sam James and emerging sophomore Kaden Prather.
Washington has been impressed so far with what those three have to offer.
"I see a ton of talent, and I see a ton of potential and to me, I see guys that can be among the better receivers in this league," he said. "I think the biggest thing is just hammering down the details and the fundamentals of the position."
What matters to Washington is not what these guys can do, but what these guys can do consistently. When he was in the league, he got a chance to watch T.Y. Hilton perform on a daily basis in Indianapolis. In Jacksonville, it was Allen Robinson and in New England, it was Rob Gronkowski and Brandin Cooks.
These guys were not good by accident, and Washington said he is spending a lot of time explaining to his guys what it takes to get into the league and how to stay there.
"It's a mindset. The best players and the best athletes aren't necessarily playing in the NFL; it's the most consistent guys," he explained. "You can make an amazing one-handed catch one out of 10 times, but that doesn't make you an NFL player. It's the production. You look at the guys who last in the league; there are a lot of flashes in the pan who have a splash year and then kind of disappear. It's the guys who take care of their bodies and do the things on and off the field, that's what takes those guys to the next level."
He continued.
"You don't understand the time and the things they put into the game to get to that level. You just see Sundays. You don't see Monday through Saturday. You don't see their offseason regimen. You don't know the amount of catches they put in, and it's those things these guys have to learn, and you can't wait until you get there. You have to do it now, and that's what I've been preaching to them," he said.
Of course, consistency over the course of their careers is what has kept Ford-Wheaton and James from reaching elite status. Prather is in their league, too, and all three have impressive physical gifts, starting with Ford-Wheaton's off-the-charts size, strength and athleticism."(Ford-Wheaton is) one of the most physical specimens I've ever worked with, and I've been a lot of places and I've seen a lot of really good players," Washington admitted. "The size and the ability he has is really good, and I think he can be a phenomenal player.
"For him, it's about being consistent and that concentration and understanding what he is – a big body who can play powerfully. He has the finesse part, but playing more powerfully and using his big body to make catches and I think he will be really good," Washington added.
James is probably West Virginia's most "twitchy" receiver, according to Washington.
"(He has) a lot of quickness and a lot of speed. He's played really well so far, and I've been surprised with him. I like what direction he's going in," he said.
And Prather, a 6-foot-4, 209-pounder from Montgomery Village, Maryland, just oozes talent and natural ability. His ceiling is limitless.
"He's a young kid who really doesn't know how good he is. I think he can be phenomenal – one of the best players I've worked with and could one day be a draft guy," Washington said. "With him it's about understanding how to be locked in every day and being a young guy, sometimes he can slip out of focus."
Washington said Morgantown High product Preston Fox has been catching nearly everything thrown his way this spring and Saraland, Alabama, freshman Jarel Williams has been doing some nice things, but needs to continue getting stronger in the weight room.
"He has a lot of natural traits," Washington said of Williams. "He's kind of slippery and can get open."
Graeson Malashevich and Reese Smith are two other experienced performers, although a tender hamstring has slowed Smith somewhat this spring.
Washington is also going to get a couple of junior college guys this summer in Navarro Community College slot receiver Jeremiah Aaron and Hutchinson Community College outside receiver Cortez Braham. Aaron is reportedly an explosive playmaker who led the junior college ranks in all-purpose yardage and per-game reception yardage while Braham gives the Mountaineers another physical pass catcher on the perimeter.
"I had prior relationships with both of those guys, and they are not totally new to me," Washington said. "Both of them are really good players. It's good having an outside guy and a slot receiver coming in because that allows us to fill some depth issues, and I think those guys have to come in and be ready to play. It's an opportunity they have, and they've got to take advantage of it this year."
As for the guys he's working with right now, Washington is stressing to them the value of having multiple tools in their tool box.
"You are not going to try and do a job with just a hammer or just one move. You've got to have a screwdriver, a wrench and everything else if you are going to get the job done. That's what I'm really trying to empower these guys to do," he explained.
In the meantime, Washington said his No. 1 priority off the field is finding a place for his young family to live. That might require putting his Appalachian State education to good use.
"I'm just trying to move my family up so now that that's done I can really focus on football," he said. "I'm really enjoying the room and really enjoying the coaching staff. We've got a room full of some really good guys and some really good personalities.
"We've got a staff that's very knowledgeable and very mature. We've got great minds like Graham Harrell and coach Brown, who used to coach receivers, and being able to learn from them and just gain on their knowledge has been a blessing so far," he concluded.
West Virginia wrapped up its eighth spring practice this morning and is scheduled to have workouts on Friday and Saturday to conclude the week.
The Mountaineers have practices planned for Tuesday and Thursday next week before hitting the pause button for Easter weekend. Practices are then slated for Tuesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 21 leading into the Gold-Blue Spring Game on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
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