FootballScoop is proud to announce that Todd Fitch and Joe Sloan are the 2016 FootballScoop Wide Receivers Coaches of the Year presented by ProGrass as selected by prior winners.
Louisiana Tech's wide receiving corps is led by the best 1-2 punch in college football, and one of the best in
Trent Taylor leads the Bulldogs this season with 98 grabs for 1,570 yards and 10 touchdowns, placing him in the top five pass-catchers in Louisiana Tech history and No. 4 among active wide receivers.
On the other side is Carlos Henderson, who represents Louisiana Tech's big play threat with 72 grabs for 1,406 yards and 17 touchdowns. Together, the pair ranks Nos. 7 and 8 nationally in receiving yards per game, one of a handful of duos to both rank in the top-10 since the FootballScoop Coach of the Year program began.
Henderson ranks second nationally in yards per reception among all players with at least 70 grabs, trailing national leader Dede Westbrook of Oklahoma by only 0.33 yards per catch. His 17 touchdowns are also one shy of the national lead -- while playing in one fewer game than leader Corey Davis of Western Michigan. Meanwhile, Taylor's 124 receptions are the second most in FBS this season, and his 1,570 yards are third-most.
Both players earned First Team All-Conference USA honors.
But while the Taylor-Henderson combination is the biggest two-man threat in college football, there is more to the Louisiana Tech wide receiver corps than just those two.
While no player gobbled up a high number of receptions -- not with Taylor and Henderson combining for 170 grabs between them -- Louisiana Tech displayed a depth few teams can match. A total of eight different Bulldogs wideouts caught at least 11 passes this season, and 10 separate wide receivers caught at least one pass this fall.
Fitch, who is also Louisiana Tech's offensive coordinator, has spent more than 30 years in coaching, with stints under College Football Hall of Famers Don Nehlen, Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz to his credit. Fitch deposited coordinator stints under head coach Skip Holtz at East Carolina and South Florida as well as Boston College before reuniting with Holtz before this season.
A longtime Holtz disciple, Sloan played for Holtz at East Carolina, served as a graduate assistant and graduate assistant under him at South Florida and was an original member of his staff at Louisiana Tech. Sloan holds an assistant head coach title in addition to coaching Louisiana Tech's inside receivers.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by ProGrass are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Bryan Ellis [Western Kentucky], Phil McGeoghan [East Carolina], Derek Sage [Toledo], Matt Simon [Western Michigan] and Fitch and Sloan) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Fitch and Sloan will receive their 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) and Tate Wallis (Baylor, 2015).
ProGrass LLC, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has established itself as one of the preeminent names in the synthetic turf industry. ProGrass installations can be located from Connecticut to California. The ProGrass product has been received as "One of the Best Products on the Market" by many customers who have spent years evaluating this industry. The reason is simple: we know the industry and have developed the TEAM, the products and processes that exceed the expectations of our demanding and knowledgeable customers. We don’t just sell turf, we know turf! For more information please visit: ProGrassTurf.com
Created in 1999, FootballScoop.com is the premier source for coaching job information and has long been the most widely viewed website by coaches, athletic directors, strength & conditioning coaches, operations and equipment staff across America. As the leading coaching job information venue, FootballScoop.com serves our viewers’ needs by providing first hand, timely & accurate information for our audience. FootballScoop.com is the premier provider of official job postings.