JC football: Former NFL player Dwayne Wright to coach at Fresno City College

A new chapter has begun for Dwayne Wright.

The former West Hills and Fresno State running back has been hired to be the inside linebackers coach at Fresno City College under head coach Tony Caviglia.

So after playing offense his entire career, Wright is focusing on the other side of the ball for the first time.

“Coaching a different position,” he said. “I was playing running back my whole life, and inside linebackers was something I was going against. It’s different, but it’s sort of the same technique. It’s just understanding the scheme.”

The position opened up after Sacramento State hired Will Plemons to be its defensive line coach.

“We weren’t necessarily looking for a coach because we felt (defensive coordinator Rick) Scheidt can coach inside linebackers,” Caviglia said. “Then we found out Dwayne was available, and we asked him to coach the position. He can really help and understands the game.”

At Fresno State, Wright 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 from 1952. Wright ranks fifth on the Bulldogs’ career rushing list with 2,683 yards.

Selected in the fourth round by the Buffalo Bills in the 2007 NFL draft, Wright bounced around for 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.

He assisted last season with the running backs at West Hills – where he was an all-conference running back in 2002. Still, Wright said he’s looking forward to coaching some defense.

“I don’t want to be a one-dimensional coach, and I don’t want to be a one-dimensional learner, either,” he said. “Get to know the kids and they get to know me and what I learned from what my coaches taught me. My coaching style is hard-nosed like Coach (Pat) Hill. I expand from the knowledge I learned from the NFL and all the coaches. I just put it all together and go from there.”

Wright also laid out plans for what players should expect when fall camp begins: a lot of toughness, speed and learning.

“I want them to play fast and play smart and not to think so much,” Wright said. “When you play like that, there are less negatives. When I was a player, I was the same way and that’s the only way to be successful on the football field as a whole.”

Road scrimmage – Fresno City will scrimmage at Sacramento City on Aug. 25, the first time in eight years the Rams will travel in the preseason after the California Community College Athletic Association eliminated road scrimmages because of cost-reduction efforts. The state board, however, recently approved the reinstatement of preseason football inter-team scrimmages.

Hinson moving on – Defensive lineman Josh Hinson (Hoover) will continue his football career at Humboldt State. He finished with 45 tackles and three sacks last season.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "JC football: Former NFL player Dwayne Wright to coach at Fresno City College."