Sources: Former IMG Academy Coach Kevin Wright Joining Indiana Staff
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Former Carmel High School and IMG Academy football coach Kevin Wright is joining Indiana's football staff as a tight ends coach, according to multiple sources in both Florida and Indiana.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic was the first to report the news.
Wright has been the football coach and director of football operations at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. the past five years, and he resigned that position in late December.
"He was looking for the right college job, and this sure seems like a perfect fit back at Indiana,'' a Florida high school coach told me Saturday morning. "He's done an incredible job down here at IMG turning that into a huge recruiting pipeline.
"I'm sure we'll still see a lot of him down here in Florida recruiting. I know how much Indiana loves this state.''
Indiana had 25 kids from Florida on their roster this season and blankets the state with six assistant coaches as they would their own state. Florida produces several hundred Division I recruits every year.
Wright's teams went 44-2 over that span, including 9-1 this past season. During Wright’s first three seasons, the Ascenders went 9-0, 11-0 and 8-0. They have been ranked first in the state by MaxPreps and in the Top 10 nationally all five seasons
The school produces dozens of 4-star and 5-star football recruits every year, and Wright's hiring will add to a staff that's already well versed at treating Florida like a second home state.
Wright would be replacing Nick Sheridan as tight ends coach. Sheridan was just promoted to offensive coordinator on Friday, replacing Kalen DeBoer, who left to take the head coaching job at Fresno State.
Indiana coach Tom Allen, who met with the media Saturday morning along with Sheridan in a pre-arranged press conference, declined to comment on the Wright hire. Allen, was was leaving for the national coaches convention, said the position should be formally filled "in the next five or six days,'' he said.
Indiana finished 8-5 this season and went to a bowl game for the first time in three years. It was the first time in 26 years that they had won at least eight games and the first time in 25-plus years that they appeared the Associated Press top-25 polls.
Allen was granted a new seven-year contract extension for that success.
