Oklahoma Adds L'Damian Washington to Coaching Staff
Brent Venables has added another accomplished name to his growing staff of coaches.
L’Damian Washington, formerly a receiver at Missouri under Hall of Fame coach Gary Pinkel who only recently broke into the college football coaching industry, joins the Oklahoma staff as offensive analyst and assistant receivers coach.
Washington, 30, made the announcement Thursday on Twitter. OU hasn’t formally announced the hiring.
FBS teams are allowed 10 full-time assistant coaches, and Venables has already filled that roster. However, teams can add an unlimited number of analysts, quality control staff and assistant position coaches.
Washington played on the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks in 2020, but then got into coaching when he joined Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz’s staff director of player development. Last season, Washington was the wide receivers coach at Southern University.
The Shreveport, LA, native spent the first part of his post-playing career in Columbia, MO, working for various charities. He also served on the board of directors for Pinkel’s GP M.A.D.E. Foundation.
Last summer, Washington was selected for the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and worked with the Kansas City Chiefs at training camp.
As a player at Missouri, Washington caught 100 passes for 1,735 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was a captain on Mizzou’s 2013 SEC East champion and graduated in four years with a degree in psychology.
Washington even has a brief playing history against the Sooners at Owen Field: in OU’s 38-28 win over the Tigers in 2011, Washington caught just one pass — for a 45-yard touchdown.
The 6-foot-4, 216-pound Washington spent time with seven NFL teams (Dallas, San Francisco, NY Giants, Cleveland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Kansas City) between 2014-15, then was signed by two Canadian football League teams (Edmonton, Winnipeg) before joining the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football and St. Louis of the XFL.
At OU, it’s expected that Washington will assist receivers coach Cale Gundy. Gundy previously coached inside receivers under Lincoln Riley while Dennis Simmons was the outside receivers coach.
