Wide Receiver Coach Darrell Wyatt Retained on Gus Malzahn’s UCF Football Staff

Darrell Wyatt, UCF receiver coach the last three seasons on the one of the most productive offenses in college football and mentor of recent UCF All-Americans Gabriel Davis and Marlon Williams, will continue in that role on Gus Malzahn's new Knight football coaching staff.
 
A veteran of more than three decades coaching receivers at the college and professional levels, Wyatt and his pass-catchers played hugely prominent roles in the ultra-successful Knight offense and passing game that have ranked among the most potent in the country the last three seasons:
--UCF is the only team in the country to rank among the top five in the nation in total offense each of the last three years (2018-19-20).
--The Knights join Alabama and USC as the only three teams to average at least 316.7 passing yards per game each of the last two seasons.
--UCF joins Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma as the only four teams to rank among the top eight in scoring each of the last three years.
 
Wyatt's crew was an integral part of one of the most productive aerial attacks in the nation in 2020—with the Knights averaging 357.4 passing yards per game (fourth nationally). Senior and Pro Football Focus third-team All-American Williams led the way for that unit with his 71 receptions for 1,039 yards and 10 touchdowns—with those numbers and his 129.3 receiving-yards-per-game average all ranking among the top nine nationally. Williams was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist for the top receiver in the country.
 
Sophomore speedster Jaylon Robinson added 55 receptions for 979 yards and six scores in 2020, while Jacob Harris had eight TD catches among his 30 catches for 539 yards—all helping UCF and quarterback Dillon Gabriel average 42.2 points per game (eighth nationally). The Knights' big-play capabilities allowed UCF to rank 17th nationally at 14.35 yards per completion for an attack that ranked second nationally in total offense (568.1 yards per game). That level of production earned first-team all-American Athletic Conference honors in 2020 for both Williams and Robinson.
  
Wyatt's first season at UCF in 2018 featured a host of weapons on the perimeter, as the Knights went 12-0 in the regular season, repeated as American Athletic Conference Champions, earned a berth to the 2019 Fiesta Bowl and rose to as high as seventh in both the Associated Press top 25 and the Amway poll of coaches. 
 
Led by the receiving trio of Davis, Dredrick Snelson and Tre Nixon, the UCF wideouts totaled 2,312 yards and 17 TDs in 2018. The receiving corps was the catalyst for explosive plays with more than 40 of those for 20 or more yards. The Knights ranked ninth in the nation with 14.94 yards per completion and totaled 522.7 yards of total offense per game, good for fifth nationally. Davis (who just finished a standout rookie season in 2020 with the NFL Buffalo Bills), under the leadership of Wyatt, led the team with 815 yards on 53 catches, scoring seven TDs to earn AAC second-team all-conference honors.
 
Then, in 2019, Davis excelled once again, adding another 72 catches for a UCF single-season record 1,241 yards to go with a dozen TD receptions. A first-team all-league selection in 2019, he led the conference in receiving yards per game (eighth nationally) and was 12th in the nation in TD catches—good for third-team All-America honors from Pro Football Focus and honorable mention All-America accolades from Phil Steele. The Knights ranked eighth nationally in yards per pass completion (15.19 each).
 
Meanwhile, Nixon contributed 49 more catches (830 yards and seven TDs) and Williams 51 (717 yards and six TDs). The UCF receiving corps combined with Gabriel to enable the Knights to rank fifth nationally in scoring (43.4 points), second in total offense (540.5 yards per game, then the UCF record) and 316.7 passing yards per contest (eighth in the country).
 
Wyatt was named to the UCF football staff in December 2017 as wide receivers coach. He came to Orlando after a stint on the staff at Arkansas State, serving as an offensive assistant in 2017. The Red Wolves produced a top-five passing offense and a top-20 total offense during his season with the squad. Prior to his time with the Red Wolves, Wyatt worked at Houston, serving as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator in 2016. The Cougars featured the No. 17 passing offense in the nation that year.
 
Wyatt has taken part in numerous New Year's Six bowl games throughout his career, and he has multiple years of experience as an offensive coordinator as well. He was an offensive analyst at Oklahoma State in 2015 when the Cowboys went to the Allstate Sugar Bowl and ranked No. 7 in the nation in passing yards and No. 14 in scoring offense.
 
Wyatt was on the coaching staff at Texas from 2011 through 2013. He was co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Longhorns in 2013, while serving as co-recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2011 and 2012. During his time at Texas, Wyatt's wide receivers earned five All-Big 12 Conference accolades. With Wyatt's help as co-recruiting coordinator, the 2012 Texas signing class was ranked No. 2 in the nation.
 
In 2008-09, Wyatt was the associate head coach/offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach at Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles were No. 18 in the nation in scoring offense and No. 31 in total offense in 2009. In 2008, Southern Miss broke 36 offensive school records en route to the No. 20 total offensive output in the country.
 
Wyatt also has coaching experience with Kansas, Arizona, NFL Minnesota Vikings, Oklahoma, Baylor, Wyoming, Sam Houston State and Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College.
 
Wyatt is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he played for two seasons after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas. He's originally from Killeen, Texas.
 
Coaching Experience