FootballScoop is proud to announce that Dennis Simmons (USC) is the 2025 FootballScoop Wide Receivers Coach of the Year, presented by Teamworks as selected by prior winners.
After a breakout sophomore season in 2024, junior wide receiver Makai Lemon joined the conversation for the best wide receiver in college football in 2025.
With 79 receptions for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns, the Los Alamitos, Calif., native was one of four players to catch at least 75 passes for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, while finishing fourth nationally in total receiving yardage. Lemon found the end zone in eight of USC's 12 regular-season games, posted three outings with double-digit receptions, and hit the 100-yard mark on five occasions.
Lemon left nearly every Trojans opponent terrorized. He caught eight passes for 127 yards and a touchdown against Michigan State, snared 11 passes for 151 yards and two scores versus Illinois, registered nine catches for 93 yards and a score in the win over Michigan, tallied 11 grabs for 161 yards and a score against Northwestern, and pulled in 10 grabs for 153 yards and a score in the win over Iowa.
He is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the game's top receiver is expected to be a unanimous First Team All-American.
Of course, USC's passing game was more than just one player. Junior Ja'Kobi Lane finished second on the club with 49 receptions for 745 yards and four touchdowns, and freshman Tanook Hines splashed with 28 grabs for 398 yards and two scores. Senior Jaden Richardson added 10 catches for 117 yards.
As a unit, USC finished eighth nationally at 297.3 yards per game, and tied for ninth at 9.1 yards per attempt -- a number surpassed by only two teams that had an equal number of attempts at USC's 390. The Trojans averaged 36.5 points per game, 13th nationally, while averaging 471.6 yards per game (10th) and 7.21 per play (fourth). USC's 9-3 regular-season mark was its best since 2022.
A former BYU linebacker, Simmons began his coaching career in 1997 as a graduate assistant working with the offensive line and special teams. In 1999, Simmons became the running backs coach, assistant AD and chief of staff at Cornell, which led to an assistant AD and chief of staff role at Texas Tech from 2000-07. He then moved to outside receivers coach from 2008-09, and later coached receivers at East Carolina, Washington State, and Oklahoma. This was Simmons's fourth season at USC, where he is also the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by Teamworks are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Dave Brock [Rutgers], Jordan Davis [North Texas], Kelsey Pope [Tennessee] and Simmons) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
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), Kasey Dunn (Oklahoma State, 2017), Tyron Carrier (West Virginia, 2018), Jeff Scott (Clemson, 2019), Holmon Wiggins (Alabama, 2020), Brian Hartline (Ohio State, 2021), JaMarcus Shephard (Washington, 2022), Cortez Hankton (LSU, 2023), and Noah Pauley (Iowa State, 2024).
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