University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Announces Hiring of Assistant Football Coach Pat Washington
1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 23, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss announced Friday the addition of Pat Washington as assistant football coach pending approval by the Board of Trustees, Institutes of Higher Learning.
Washington will coach the running backs, replacing Frank Wilson who resigned from the school earlier this month.
"We are pleased to welcome Pat," said Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora. "He will be an outstanding addition to our staff as he brings a wealth of experience on the offensive side of the ball. We look forward to him working with our running backs as they continue their maturation process."
Washington comes to Southern Miss with solid credentials as a wide receiver coach after spending the last two years at Mississippi State. His additional coaching background has seen him work with student-athletes at Louisiana-Lafayette, TCU, Baylor, Tennessee and Kansas State.
After working two seasons as a graduate assistant at Auburn in 1987-88, Washington worked three years (1989-91) at Louisiana-Lafayette as wide receivers coach, before moving to TCU for two years (1992-93) as quarterbacks and receivers coach.
After a year at Baylor (1994) as its running backs coach, Washington moved to Tennessee where he spent 11 seasons (1995-2005) guiding the Volunteers receivers. During his time in Knoxville, Washington coached a strong of celebrated pass catchers, including Donte' Stallworth, Cedrick Wilson, Peerless Price, Marcus Nash and Joey Kent. He produced 11 National Football League draft picks while at UT, including first-team all-Southeastern Conference selections Kent and Nash. Those two players, along with Wilson and Price, are the top four names on the Vols' career receiving list.
Washington helped guide UT to 10 bowl games in his 11 seasons there, including three Citrus Bowls, two Fiesta, Peach and Cotton Bowls, and one Orange Bowl appearance. The Volunteers also captured the 1998 SEC Championship Game over Mississippi State and won the 1999 Fiesta Bowl to complete an undefeated, national championship season.
Following his stint at UT, Washington spent a season at Kansas State (2006) where the Wildcats collected a 7-5 season and earned a postseason invitational to the Texas Bowl against Rutgers.
Additionally, he was with Auburn for back-to-back Sugar Bowls in 1988-89, assisted at Baylor during their 1994 Alamo Bowl appearance and helped guide the Bulldogs to the Liberty Bowl victory in 2007.
A native of Mobile, Ala., Washington graduated from Auburn in 1987 with a degree in management. During his time there, he played quarterback for the Tigers from 1982-85, where was the starter during his final two seasons. Auburn went to four bowl games during his playing years, including the 1982 Tangerine Bowl, the 1984 Sugar Bowl, 1984 Liberty Bowl and 1986 Cotton Bowl. His 1985 teammate, Bo Jackson, garnered the Heisman Trophy that season. Washington compiled a 17-8 mark for the Tigers as their starting quarterback.
Washington, 45, and his wife, Claudette, have two sons, Tyson and Justin.
Playing Career
* Played quarterback for Auburn from 1982-85, starting his last two seasons
* Helped lead Auburn to four-straight bowl games under coach Pat Dye
* Collected 17-8 mark as a starter for the Tigers
Coaching Career
* 1987-88: Graduate Assistant, Auburn
* 1989-91: Wide Receivers Coach, Louisiana-Lafayette
* 1992-93: Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers Coach, TCU
* 1994: Running Backs Coach, Baylor
* 1995-2005: Wide Receivers Coach, Tennessee
* 2006: Wide Receivers Coach, Kansas State
* 2007-08: Wide Receivers Coach, Mississippi State
