Tony Washington was named the wide receivers coach by head football coach Jamey Chadwell in January 2020.
Washington, who enjoyed a four-year career as a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), joined the Coastal Carolina football coaching staff after one season on the staff at Louisville as an offensive graduate assistant in 2019.
Before joining his former head coach Scott Satterfield at Louisville, he was a member of the ECU staff as the offensive quality control coordinator in 2018.
In his first season at the beach in 2020, the Chanticleers won the program’s first-ever Sun Belt Conference title, posted an 11-1 overall mark, including an 8-0 Sun Belt Conference record, and played in the program’s first-ever FBS postseason bowl game.
The 2020 season marked Coastal Carolina’s first-ever undefeated regular season and the first time that the Chanticleers were ranked in either the Associated Press Top 25 Poll or the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA Today Sports.
The Chanticleers posted two wins over FBS top 25 nationally-ranked opponents, the first two such victories in program history, four wins over top 50 opponents, and was ranked as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 11 in the Amway Coaches Poll, both Sun Belt Conference records. The Chanticleers were also ranked as high as No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, also a Sun Belt record.
Overall, the offense in 2020 led the conference in scoring offense (37.2 points per game), third-down conversion percentage (52.3 percent), fourth-down conversion percentage (76.5 percent), time of possession (33:50), completion percentage (66.6 percent), fewest interceptions thrown (5), and team passing efficiency (177.72).
CCU was second in the league for the year in red-zone offense (88.3 percent), and second in both sacks allowed per game (1.17) and tackles-for-loss allowed per game (4.33) on the year. The Chants also ranked third in the conference in total offense (449.8 yards per game) and rushing offense (218.3 yards per game), both of which ranked in the top 25 nationally.
Washington saw junior Jaivon Heiligh and redshirt senior Greg Latushko, along with veterans Kameron Brown and Sam Denmark, emerge as vital weapons on the outside for the Chanticleers in a season that saw the wide receivers corps. ravaged with multiple season-ending injuries.
Heiligh, who picked up first-team All-Sun Belt honors, led the offense with a team-high 65 receptions for 998 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. He averaged 15.4 yards per catch and 83.2 yards per game on his way to becoming just the 12th Chanticleer in program history to eclipse 1,000-career receiving yards. He also became just the sixth Chanticleer in program history to record over 100 pass receptions.
Heiligh, who was named to the 2020 Biletnikoff Award watch list, not only led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns in 2020, but he did it in record-setting fashion by setting a new CCU single-game record with 13 receptions, breaking his own record of 12 set in 2019, and recorded a new career-high of 178 receiving yards at the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl versus No. 23 Liberty (Dec. 26, 2020). Both his receptions and receiving yards versus the Flames were also new Cure Bowl records.
After not making a single catch in his first four years as a Chant, Latushko blew up under Washington’s guidance in 2020 as he totaled 15 receptions for 232 yards and two touchdowns on the year. He had six games with two catches or more on the year, while 14 of his 15 catches on the season went for a first down, and 14 of his receptions also came on third down. The redshirt senior scored his first career touchdown in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl versus No. 23 Liberty and finished with two catches for 48 yards and two touchdowns in the bowl game versus the Flames.
The tandem of Brown and Denmark combined for 35 receptions for 573 yards and four touchdowns on the season, as redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall threw for over 200 yards in eight of the 11 games and passed for a career-high 338 passing yards at Troy (Dec. 12), 322 yards in the air versus Arkansas State (Oct. 3), and 318 yards against No. 23 Liberty (Dec. 26) in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.
After putting together an outstanding collegiate resume at Appalachian State from 2009-13, Washington spent the majority of his NFL professional career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Indianapolis Colts in 2014, Washington was picked up by the Jaguars later that summer before being acquired by the New England Patriots in 2017.
Washington was a multiple All-Southern Conference pick while at App State earning all-conference accolades in both 2012 and 2013, and was chosen to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Senior Bowl.
His name is still etched in the Appalachian State record book, ranking in the top 10 in most pass receptions in a game (10), most pass receptions in a season (64), and most career receiving yards (1,837). He also ranks in the top 10 in the Mountaineers’ record books in several special teams categories including most kickoff return yards in a season (654), most kickoff return yards in a career (1,289), most kickoff returns in a season (31), most kickoff returns in a career (55), most yards per kickoff return in a season (27.3), most yards per kickoff return in a career (23.4), and the longest kickoff return (99).
He earned several accolades for his performance in the classroom, including SoCon All-Academic, Capital One All-District Academic, and ADA FCS All-Star Academic honors, along with being the 2013 recipient of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award & Scholarship. Washington was a Dean’s List student who also captured the school’s Science Building Most Outstanding Student Award.
In the community, Washington has served in mentorship and coaching roles for the Cheryl Littlejohn Kids Camp, Danny O’Brien Elite High School Football Academy, and the Jacksonville Jaguars Community Outreach Program. In 2015, he served as a special guest speaker and receivers coach for the Nike Opening Orlando event.
Washington, who prepped at T. Wingate Andrews High School in High Point, N.C., earned dual bachelor’s degrees in architecture & design technology and construction management from Appalachian State in 2013. He graduated with a 3.83-grade point average.
Williams and his wife Tiffany have a son named TJ.
Tony Washington's Coaching History
2018: East Carolina (Offensive Quality Control - Wide Receivers)
2019: Louisville (Offensive Graduate Assistant - Wide Receivers)
2020-present: Coastal Carolina (Wide Receivers)
