Ex-Fresno State football star Dwayne Wright returns to West Hills as assistant

Dwayne Wright is back where it all started in his college career — with the West Hills College Falcons.

The ex-Falcons running back, who went on to star at Fresno State and play in the NFL, was hired by West Hills as the running backs and strength and conditioning coach under new head coach Cam Olson.

Wright played one season with the Falcons, rushing for 1,068 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games in 2002 before transferring to Fresno State.

With the Bulldogs, he set the single-game rushing record with 295 yards in a 34-27 victory at Louisiana Tech in 2006 — topping Larry Willoughby’s standard of 252 established in 1952.

Wright missed most of the 2004 and 2005 seasons because of a patellar tendon injury but wound up playing in 28 games. He is still fifth on the career rushing list with 2,683 yards on 501 carries.

Selected in the fourth round by the Buffalo Bills in the 2007 draft, Wright played four seasons in the NFL, then joined the Hartford Colonials of the now-defunct United Football League and also spent two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

Wright retired and became a high school assistant and started a developmental pro team in San Diego, where he starred as a prep at Lincoln High.

Now he joins a Falcons program coming off a school-record 10-win season that included a Golden Coast Conference title and American Division Bowl championship. Wright and former Bulldogs coach Pat Hill were among those at West Hills’ ring ceremony on May 12 at the invitation of former Falcons coach and current athletic director Mark Gritton.

The Bee caught up with Wright this month.

Question: How did all this come about in deciding to become a West Hills assistant?

Wright: I have some experience coaching in high school and I have my own developmental professional football team. I mean, it wasn’t planned but Gritton asked me to come to speak to the team when they won the championship and they had a ring ceremony and they invited Coach Hill and I. That’s when I made my decision. It felt good coming back and it was a position that opened up and everyone was excited. I just said OK. … I fit right in.

Describe what that ring ceremony was like with Coach Hill.

Coach Hill got up and talked to the guys and the community and told him his experiences, and I got up and actually talked and told the guys my experiences and actually congratulated them and had a good time. I got reacquainted with the faculty and alumni and Fresno State alumni.

What’s life been like since you stopped playing?

It was kind of crazy. I got a divorce from my wife. Everything went downhill from there. It kind of gave me a reality check and I ended up moving back home (to San Diego). I said, you know what? I’ve got to do something with it. I’ve got to finish up school and I just decided, now what to do? I started up my developmental organization … develop players that can’t find a way to high school, or didn’t qualify in JC, or something else didn’t go right. Get back into college or the NFL or otherwise renew their professional career. I coached at University City High in the La Jolla area, and I was the running backs and special teams coach. That went well. After two years there, I went to Lincoln High.

What can these West Hills players expect from you as the season draws closer?

First, Gritton and Camron Olson were a big part of me coming back to West Hills. I think the players … what they’re going to get is down to earth. Fresh, young. I have a lot of knowledge from high school to the NFL. Different things in different aspects. As far as a humble guy, that’s what I am. I’m going to bring a lot of success out of these kids. I want to be an older brother or father figure for these kids.

Finally, what’s the biggest memory you can recall when you were at West Hills and Fresno State?

Biggest memory at West Hills was probably when I got there and I was humbled quick by Coach Gritton. I recorded practices and cut grass. … That’s what I did, only because when I left Washington State (as a non-qualifier). They actually hit me up because I was a top recruit in the nation at that time. I wasn’t expecting to be sitting out of football. My biggest memory was I was a worker. All I did was cut grass and film all the practices. At Fresno State, probably the record against Louisiana Tech. That record stood 60 plus years and I shattered it. I was projected to get drafted and I did.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Ex-Fresno State football star Dwayne Wright returns to West Hills as assistant."