FootballScoop is proud to announce that JaMarcus Shephard (Washington) is the 2022 FootballScoop Wide Receivers Coach of the Year, presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
The 2022 Washington Huskies were almost a perfect story of their time. A 4-8 team a year ago, the program brought in a new coaching staff, the coaching staff brought in a new quarterback and, voila, those new parts brought in an 11-2 record. Washington performed like a completely different team because, in many ways, they were. Such is life in the transfer portal era.
But not the Huskies' wide receivers. Washington did not use the transfer portal to bring in a receiver corps; instead, through coaching, Washington's receivers transformed into a totally different group.
After not having a receiver place among the top 100 nationally or catches or yards a year ago, Washington was the only team in the nation to have two players within the top 20 in catches and in the top 15 in yards.
Sophomore Jalen McMillan led the team in grabs. After hauling in 39 catches for 470 yards a year ago, he snared 79 passes for 1,098 yards and nine scores. McMillan posted four games with at least eight catches, three 100-yard games, and found the end zone eight times in 13 contests. He closed the year better than he started: eight grabs for 122 yards in a win over Oregon; eight for 98 and a score in a victory over Colorado; six for 150 and a score in an Apple Cup triumph over Washington State; and eight for 58 and a touchdown in an Alamo Bowl defeat of Texas.
Fellow sophomore Rome Odunze was the group's big-play man. Leading the team with 41 reception for 415 yards and four touchdowns in 2021, he doubled those numbers in 2022. Odunze led the club with 1,145 yards on 75 receptions, seven of them going for touchdowns. He bested the 100-yard mark six times in 13 games. Odunze snagged eight balls for 161 yards and a touchdown against Stanford; eight for 116 and two versus UCLA; nine for 169 and two in a win over Arizona; and five for 157 and a score in the Apple Cup.
Freshman Ja'Lynn Polk -- five catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in spot duty last season -- had a fabulous first full season, corralling 41 passes for 694 yards and six touchdowns. Junior Giles Jackson more than tripled his eight catches from last season, collecting 28 grabs for 328 yards and a score. Sophomore Taj Davis tallied 21 grabs for 277 yards and three scores.
As a team, the Huskies finished fourth in the nation in completions (373), second in yards (4,807), 14th in passing touchdowns (32), and eighth in scoring (39.7 points per game).
Odunze was named a First Team All-Pac-12 performer, while McMillan garnered an Honorable Mention nod.
Shephard joined Washington's staff from Purdue, where he spent five seasons and four as co-offensive coordinator. The DePauw graduate worked for the NCAA and the National Center for Drug-Free Sport before jumping into coaching as a volunteer assistant at Western Kentucky in 2011. He spent two seasons off the field before earning the wide receivers job at WKU in 2014-15. Shephard spent 2016 at Washington State before joining Purdue's staff in 2017.
Shephard is also Washington's associate head coach and passing game coordinator.
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 (Brian Hartline [Ohio State], Malcolm Kelly/Doug Meacham [TCU], Kelsey Pope [Tennessee], Joe Price [UTSA], Nate Scheelhaase [Iowa State] and Shephard) 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), and Brian Hartline (Ohio State, 2021).
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