ASU football: Three potential candidates for WR coach

TEMPE, Ariz. — Several days after ASU football lost their wide-receiver coach Ra’Shaad Samples to Oregon, the replacement search is in full swing. Samples was an excellent recruiter, specifically in his home state of Texas. The young, up-and-coming assistant coach also served as the passing game coordinator with the Sun Devils.

This week Samples received an offer he couldn’t refuse from the Oregon Ducks, as their RB coach. ASU football is already feeling the pinch of his departure, as the top 2025 recruit in Arizona (Cooper Perry) chose the Ducks over ASU, following Samples.

Kenny Dillingham doesn’t have time to waste finding a replacement for Samples, as spring ball is underway and several recruits are visiting Tempe in May and June. Dillingham spoke about what he’s looking for in candidates after spring practice on Tuesday.

“A guy with experience,” Dillingham said. “A guy who can develop, a guy who can demand presence and demand that leadership. He walks into the room and people say, ‘Man, where’s my paper, where’s my pen? I want to learn. I want to soak in every piece of knowledge this person has because he’s done what I want to do, he’s been where I want to go.”

Here are three potential candidates for the WR coaching position, including two who already interviewed for the job (per several sources).

Three potential WR coaches for ASU football

Hines Ward

Hines Ward is a legendary receiver who spent a 14-year NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In that time he made four Pro Bowls, won two Super Bowls, as well as a Super Bowl MVP. He finished his NFL career with over 1,000 total receptions (including regular season and playoffs), racking up over 13,000 yards and 96 total touchdowns.

Ward retired following the 2011 season and has had various coaching positions since. Following his NFL career, he returned to the Steelers as an offensive intern in 2017, then as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets from 2019-2020. Ward then turned to the college game and spent the 2021 season coaching WRs at Florida Atlantic. Most recently he was the head coach of San Antonio Brahmas (UFL) in 2023.

The potential candidate was at practice on Tuesday, just two days after Samples’ departure. It was later confirmed that Ward was being considered for the position (first reported by Sun Devil Source).

While Ward only has one season of college coaching experience, a former player of his pedigree should pay dividends on the recruiting trail, and in maximizing the current talent in ASU’s WR room including guys like Elijhah Badger, Jordyn Tyson, Troy Omiere, Jake Smith, and more.

Troy Brown

Troy Brown is another former NFL wide receiver. Brown is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots and spent 15 seasons with New England in the NFL.

In his NFL career, Brown caught 557 passes for 6,366 yards and 31 touchdowns.

Following his NFL career, Brown returned to the Patriots. He began as a running backs coach in 2020 for his former team before transitioning to wide receivers coach from 2021-2023. The Patriots’ new coach Jerrod Mayo demoted Brown to a skill development position. However, despite being demoted Brown was one of only a few coaches from Bill Belichick’s staff that Mayo retained.

Brown was in Tempe earlier this week and has interviewed for the position. The biggest concern for Brown is that he has no college experience. Will he know how to recruit? That remains to be seen, however, a former player with his experience should be effective on the recruiting trail. He knows how to make it to the NFL, and have a long career. That should be appealing to young WRs with NFL dreams.

Chad Savage

Chad Savage is the only name on this list that I haven’t seen reports of him being officially considered. However, I think he would be a home run hire.

Savage is the wide receivers coach at Colorado State and has been in that role since 2021. Before that, he coached in several different roles at his alma mater of Nevada. Savage climbed the ladder from graduate assistant to tight ends coach while with the Wolfpack.

Savage has proven to be an extremely effective recruiter. He has been the highest-ranked recruiter in the Mountain West for three consecutive seasons (247 Sports). Most recently Savage headlined Colorado State’s 2024 class by signing WR Jordan Ross. Ross is a three-star WR from Downey, Calif., and a top 500 player nationally (247 Sports). He’s also Colorado State’s second-highest-rated recruit ever.

Ross chose Colorado State over Auburn, Arizona, and Colorado. Getting a player to choose a Mountain West school over several P5 programs, including an SEC program is very impressive and a testament to Savage’s recruiting prowess.

Not only has Savage had success in recruiting, but also on the field.

“On the field, in his first season leading the receivers, Savage mentored Tory Horton to a 1,000-yard season, the eight-consecutive such season for a Rams pass catcher,” Colorado State’s official website writes. “Horton was named first-team All-Mountain West after leading the league in yards (1,131) and yards per game (94.3) while notching five 100-yard games. He was named to the Biletnikoff Watch List on his way to tallying the eight-most receiving yards in a season in school history. Horton’s 71 receptions ranked 10th in school history. True freshman Justus Ross-Simmons also became a starter and a dependable target with 26 receptions for 424 yards, averaging 16.3 yards per catch.”

Looking ahead for ASU football

Any of the mentioned candidates would be a good fit in Tempe, in my opinion. After practice on Thursday, Dillingham mentioned that they’ve contacted six different candidates. They are hoping to have a decision made within a week.

Regardless of whoever gets the position, they will be gifted an extremely talented WR room to work with in Year One.

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