Huskies' JaMarcus Shephard Linked To Penn State Vacancy
A year ago, the University of Washington football program was bemoaning the loss of top recruit Germie Bernard and wary of the potential transfers for Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, all top-level wide receivers, as the Husky coaching changeover turned a little messy.
Wide receivers coach Junior Adams set this in motion by first accepting a coaching offer from new UW coach Kalen DeBoer and then taking a better one, at least financially, from Oregon.
Enter JaMarcus Shephard to calm all of this tense pass-catching turmoil.
The Huskies hired him from Purdue and he now not only heads up one of the nation's top wide-receiver contingents entering next season, he has Bernard back on campus following his season at Michigan State.
People are noticing his work. Shephard is one of five names being floated around for the Penn State receivers-coach vacancy created on Monday when Taylor Stubblefield was fired. Ironically, Stubblefield is a Yakima native who followed Joe Tiller, one-time Washington State offensive coordinator, to Purdue before embarking on a CFL career and into coaching.
It's an opportunity for Shephard, an Indiana native, to go from the Big Tent to Montlake and back to the Big Ten. Wikipedia, as of Tuesday night, even prematurely had him listed as the Penn State receivers coach.
With the Huskies' instantaneous 11-2 success under the new staff, DeBoer stands to have to fight to hang on to his assistant coaches.
On Monday, prolific list-maker Big Game Boomer dropped a whimsical ranking of college football's top 50 head-coaching candidates and included Shephard (18) and Husky offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb (32) on it.
Grubb already has received a pair of UW contract extensions since the end of the season, with Texas A&M trying to pry him and his high-powered offense loose from Montlake.
Shephard, besides the obvious receiving statistical upgrades of Odunze, McMillan and the rest of the Huskies, has endeared himself to the coaching ranks with word of his infectious personality and coaching style — antics that include him loudly encouraging his players to be great and running routes alongside his receivers.
He earned $650,004 at the UW last season and will match it this year, with a one-year's salary buyout should he take a new position before the end of the month. He might need an extension.
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