FootballScoop is proud to announce that Tyron Carrier is the 2018 FootballScoop Wide Receivers Coach of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
Just how reliable was West Virginia's passing game in 2018? Look at it this way: five players caught at least 13 touchdown passes this fall, and two of them wore Mountaineer colors.
David Sills V was WVU quarterback Will Grier's top target. A converted quarterback who was famously offered by Lane Kiffin as a seventh grader, Sills used his long frame to create separation whenever he needed it, catching a team-high 65 passes for 986 yards and 15 touchdowns, one off from the national lead.
Sills, a senior, snared multiple touchdown grabs in five games, including in some of West Virginia's biggest games. He opened the year with a 7-catch, 140-yard, 2-touchdown performance against Tennessee, then hauled in three touchdown grabs in a drubbing of Kansas State in late September. He caught five passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in an October blowout of Baylor, then followed that up with six catches for 97 yards and two scores in a win at Texas. In a make-or-break game for a trip to the Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma, Sills hauled in eight catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
In three seasons as a Mountaineer -- including one where he caught just seven passes total -- Sills stands in seventh place in Big 12 history with 35 career touchdown passes.
Sills paired with fellow senior Gary Jennings, Jr., to form one of the most formidable duos in the nation. After posting a 1,000-yard senior as a junior, Jennings nearly duplicated his effort as a senior. He caught 54 passes for 917 yards and 13 scores in 11 appearances for the Mountaineers. Jennings saved his best performance for WVU's biggest game, snatching seven passes for 225 yards and two scores against Oklahoma.
In addition to Sills and Jennings, junior Marcus Simms caught 46 passes for 699 yards and two scores, sophomore TJ Simmons snared 22 receptions for 277 yards and one score, while senior Dominique Maiden caught eight passes for 130 yards and a score.
West Virginia came one yard shy of joining Alabama and Hawai'i as the only teams to boast three 700-yard receivers.
As a team, West Virginia finished fourth nationally in passing (351.3 yards per game), eighth in total offense (512.3) and 10th in scoring (40.3 points per game). The Mountaineers' 153 completions of 10-plus yards were ninth in the nation, and its 36 gains of at least 30 yards were fourth.
Sills was named a Second Team AP All-American and a First Team All-Big 12 performer, while Jennings was an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honoree.
Carrier played for his current boss Dana Holgorsen as a wide receiver at Houston from 2008-11. After a brief professional career in Canada, Carrier spent the 2015 season as a graduate assistant at Baylor before joining Holgorsen's staff as wide receivers coach in 2016.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Andre Allen [Hawai'i], Josh Gattis [Alabama] and Carrier) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Carrier will receive his award and be recognized at an event at the AFCA Convention in January.
Previous winners of the Wide Receivers Coach of the Year award are Bobby Kennedy (Texas, 2008), Zach Azzanni (Central Michigan, 2009), Brent Pease (Boise State, 2010), Ted Gilmore (USC, 2011), Matt Lubick (Duke, 2012), Lawrence Dawsey (Florida State, 2013), Rusty Burns/Doug Meacham (TCU, 2014), Tate Wallis (Baylor, 2015), Todd Fitch/Joe Sloan (Louisiana Tech, 2016) and Kasey Dunn (Oklahoma State, 2017).
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