CI Week 2 Highlights

Week 2 marked the beginning of the NFL regular season and the CI Family started off with flying colors. Saints Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael, Rams Asst. Head Coach/RB Thomas Brown (@iamthomasbrown) and Chargers WR Coach Chris Beatty (@BeattyCoach) all picked up opening wins. At the college level, upsets were aplenty as five games featured FBS Top 25 teams losing with four Coaches Inc. coaches on the winning side in those contests. Keep reading below for more highlights from Week 2. 

Considering how many NFL receivers that Chris Beatty (@BeattyCoach) has mentored at the high school and college levels, it's only fitting that he now has an opportunity to do so on Sundays. Making his NFL debut for the Chargers on the road against his hometown team, Beatty looked right at home, directing a Charger receiving corps that combined to haul in 24 receptions for 278 yards and a touchdown in LA's 20-16 win. WR Keenan Allen led the way, catching nine passes for 100 yards to hit the century mark for the 29th time in his career. Right behind Allen was Mike Williams, who snared eight balls for 82 yards and the game-winning touchdown to put the visitors on top for good in the fourth quarter. While Allen and Williams are established NFL veterans, Beatty's work with the Chargers' contingent of young wideouts was also evident as the trio of Jalen Guyton, KJ Hill, Jr., and Joshua Palmer each had one of the best games of their respective careers. Congratulations to Beatty on his first NFL win! Beatty spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons as the wide receivers coach at Pitt and has also coached collegiately at Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Northern Illinois. He has served as an asisstant head coach and offensive coordinator and was recognized on multiple occasions as one of the nation's top recruiters. He has worked with a total of five eventual NFL Draft selections at the college level, including two first rounders, as well as coaching another first round pick in Percy Harvin when he was a high school head coach in Virginia. For more insight into Beatty's background and rise through the ranks, be sure to check out this great profile piece that The Virginian-Pilot ran over the weekend. 

Week 2 Highlights of the 2020 season featured Coastal Carolina and Co-Offensive Coordinator/RB Newland Isaac's (@coachisaacFB) 38-23 win over Kansas in Lawrence. The win was notable because even though the Chanticleers had just defeated the Jayhawks in 2019, they were still underdogs and the win was a monumental one for an up-and-coming program. Isaac and the Chants again make an appearance in Week 2 of this year's highlights for their win over Kansas, but this time the win is notable for the sheer dominance of the performance rather than any upset factor. Far from underdogs, CCU entered the game as 27-point favorites over KU - the most for a Group of Five team over a Power 5 team since 2008 - and backed up every bit of the hype. Coastal RB Reese White had a career night, rushing for 102 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 carries (7.3 ypc) to pace a Chanticleer offense that racked up 215 total yards on the ground. Overall, Coastal has scored over 100 points in its two opening wins to rank #5 in the nation in Scoring Offense. Congratulations to Isaac on the win! Now in his fourth year with the program, Isaac was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2019 after serving as the team’s running backs coach in 2018. He began his coaching career working with the running backs and slot receivers at North Greenville, where he helped the Crusaders win a national title in 2010. He went on to coach at Delta State, Charleston Southern and Albany State before arriving at CCU. In 2018, Isaac was selected to participate in the NCAA-NFL Coaches Academy.

On paper, there was no way Oregon should have walked out of the Horseshoe with a win on Saturday. The Ducks were down five defensive starters, including arguably the nation's best player in Kayvon Thibodeaux, had to travel cross-country for a 9am Pacific kickoff in one of college football's most intimidating environments, and were coming off of a Week 1 outing that was rather pedestrian. But by the time the locals in Eugene were finishing their brunch, the Ducks had pulled off one of the biggest wins in program history. RB C.J. Verdell got Oregon on the board first with a 14-yard scoring run in the second quarter to put the visitors up 7-0. The Buckeyes responded to tie the game at 7-7, but another Verdell touchdown, this time through the air, put the Ducks ahead for good with just under five minutes left in the first half. Verdell finished the game with 195 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns to put his name squarely in the Heisman conversation. Defensively, CB Mykael Wright stepped up to lead Oregon with 10 tackles while safety Verone McKinley III applied the finishing touches when he picked off a pass from Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud with under three minutes to go. The Ducks also had a strong day on special teams, limiting the Buckeys to -8 punt return yards and converting all of their place kicks. Congratulations to Oregon Special Teams Analyst Chris Norris (@coachnorris38) and Defensive Analyst Kwame Agyeman (@CoachKwameUO) on the statement win! Norris is in his fifth season in Eugene and in 2019 he helped the Ducks finish in the top 10 nationally in both Punt Return and Kickoff Return. He previously spent one season at South Florida and has also coached at Southeast Missouri, Jacksonville, Tennessee State and Webber International. In addition to working with special teams, Norris has coached running backs and tight ends. Agyeman is in his sixth season with the Ducks after a stint at Northwestern as a special teams quality control assistant. He was a four-year letterman for Oregon from 2004-07.

For most of the 20th century, Arkansas and Texas were rivals in the Southwest Conference. With the Longhorns set to join the SEC and renew the rivalry, the Razorbacks served notice to their western neighbor that they could be in for a rude awakening. Arkansas dominated from start to finish, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 24-yard field goal from freshman kicker Cam Little. From there, Arkansas never looked back. The Razorbacks' special teams contributed again later in the first half when LB Jake Yurachek blocked a Texas punt to setup another Little field goal. For the game, Little was perfect on his kicks, including all four field goals with a long of 44 yards. Arkansas' other specialist, punter Reid Bauer, made the most of limited opportunities, booming one 47-yard punt and not giving up any return yards on either of his punts. With the win, the Razorbacks find themselves ranked #20 in this week's AP Poll, the first Top 25 ranking for the program since 2016. Congratulations to Arkansas Assistant Special Teams Coach Mike Krysl (@CoachKrysl) on the win and great start to the season! Krysl is in his second season with the Razorbacks after a two-year stint at Army where he helped guide the Black Knights to an 11-2 record, bowl win and Commander-in-Chief Trohpy in 2018. He previously served as the special teams coordinator at Georgia Southern where he helped guide the Eagles to a #2 national ranking in Net Kickoff and the first bowl game in program history. He has also coached at Samford and his alma mater, Central Missouri.

Typically, when colleges start football programs from scratch or after being dormant for several years, they will take a few years to build up infrastructure and a roster before playing their first game. When Bluefield State hired Tony Coaxum (@CoachCOax17) as its head coach in October 2020, there was no such waiting period. In less than 10 months, Coaxum, a first-time head coach, was tasked with resurrecting a program that had not played a game in over four decades. Fielding a roster comprised almost entirely of freshmen, Coaxum and Asst. Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/LB David Blake (@CoachBlake41) nearly pulled off the unthinkable in Week 1, falling just short versus NAIA member Lawrence Tech. On Saturday, the odds were stacked even higher as the Big Blue went on the road for the first time to face Division II school Elizabeth City. Things did not look great when the Vikings jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, but Coaxum and Blake's roster showed a maturity beyond their years in not folding. Bluefield QB J'Rell Joseph and WR Perry Wilder connected on a 16-yard scoring strike early in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 14 and then again for a 75-yard touchdown five minutes later to pull within seven. A third touchdown at the end of the second quarter sent the teams into half suddenly level at 21-21. In the second half, Blake's defense continued to stifle the Vikings, surrending one touchdown but nothing more. A 1-yard touchdown rush by Markaden Bryant put Bluefield up by one and then another touchdown pass from Joseph sealed the comeback win. DB Jhordan Inniss led the Big Blue defense with nine tackles. Remarkably, with just two games under its belt, the Big Blue already ranks #2 in all of Division II in Interceptions, #10 in Turnovers Gained and #21 in Red Zone Defense. Congratulations to Coaxum and Blake on the historic win! Coaxum briefly coached at Northern Colorado in 2020 after a stint as the assistant special teams coach at Kansas. In 2018, he served as the special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at Central Michigan and previously spent two seasons as the assistant special teams coach for the Broncos where he helped the team win Super Bowl 50. Blake arrived at Bluefield after spending the 2020 season as a defensive assistant and player personnel analyst at Auburn. He previously worked on the offensive side of the ball at Arkansas State and also spent three seasons at Memphis where he helped the Tigers win two division championships.

If Villanova Defensive Coordinator/DB Ola Adams (@CoachOlaAdams) were to pull out his PlayStation and play Madden on the rookie setting, he'd be hard pressed to match the numbers he's posting in real life. Through two games, the Wildcat defense has recorded more takeaways (8) than points allowed (6). Villanova has yielded a cumulative total of 228 yards in its first two games and given up a miniscule 2.1 yards per play. Perhaps most impressive about these eye-popping stats is the fact that for significant stretches of both games, Villanova emptied its bench as both wins have come in blowout fashion. Against Bucknell, CB Christian Benford continued his torrid start to the season, intercepting two more passes, including one pick-six, to give him four interceptions on the year (#1 nationally). Safety Darius Pickett blocked a punt and was one of three Wildcats to tie for the team-lead with four tackles. In a sign of just how many players contributed to the defense's success, a total of 29 Wildcats recorded a tackle against the Bison. Congratulations to Adams on the incredible start to the season! Adams is in his seventh season at Villanova and third as defensive coordinator after serving as the team's special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach from 2017-18 and running backs coach from 2015-16. In just his first season as defensive coordinator, he directed a defense that helped the Wildcats reach the FCS Playoffs in 2019 after being picked to finish 9th in the CAA Preseason Poll. Adams arrived at Villanova after serving as the wide receivers coach at Columbia in 2014. He has completed Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowships with the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers.