University of Houston Athletics
Briles Adds New Assistant, Makes Changes In Current Responsibilities
4/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 20, 2005
HOUSTON, Texas - University of Houston head football coach Art Briles today announced the hiring of Rodney Blackshear as an assistant coach. Briles also shifted some responsibilities on his staff, adding special teams coordinator to Alan Weddell's tasks and shifting Jason Phillips from wide receivers to cornerbacks.
A former standout at Texas Tech and an Arena Football League veteran, Blackshear will coach the UH wide receivers, which includes senior Vincent Marshall, a 2004 Second-Team, All-Conference USA selection.
As for Weddell, he adds the Special Teams Coordinator duties to his inside linebacker chores. The addition for Weddell plus the shift for Phillips was brought on by last month's departure of Thomas McGaughey to the NFL's Denver Broncos. McGaughey served two seasons as UH's Special Teams Coordinator and helped with the cornerbacks in 2004.
Briles believes Blackshear will be a much-needed asset to the Cougar Football program.
"We're very excited to have (Blackshear)," commented Briles. "He is going to bring a lot of energy and a lot of experience as well as some fresh ideas. He is very experienced in all levels of football in the state of Texas.
"With the departure of Coach McGaughey, Coach Weddell is going to assume the Special Teams Coordinator role with help from all the coaches. It will be a different set-up as opposed to what Thomas did for us. It is going to be more of a unified effort, but Coach Weddell is going to head up that part of the team."
Blackshear, a 35 year-old native of Houston, Texas, was a four-year standout at Texas Tech University (1987-1991) before embarking on a career in the Arena Football League (AFL), where he played in 60 games, spanning five seasons. Blackshear comes to Houston after spending the 2004 season as the Offensive Coordinator/Director of Player Personnel for the AFL2's Rio Grande Valley Dorados in Hidalgo, Texas.
He played four seasons in his hometown of Houston, suiting up for the Texas Terror during the `96 and `97 season and the Houston ThunderBears during the `98 and `99 seasons.
Blackshear combined for 204 receptions for 2,482 yards and 45 receiving touchdowns in 52 games in Houston. He also recorded a touchdown off an interception and off a missed field-goal attempt. The 1998 All-Arena First Team (WR/DB) honoree closed out his AFL career with the 2001 Arena Bowl Champion Grand Rapids Rampage.
The former Red Raider was a member of Spike Dykes' inaugural recruiting class at Texas Tech University. Blackshear led the team in receiving in 1990 (44 rec., 973 yds, 9 TDs) and 1991 (30 rec., 649 yds, 5 TDs). He ranks third at Tech with 973 single-season yards in 1990 and also is tied for third at Tech with nine single-season TD receptions in 1990 (junior season). Overall, he ranks fourth in career yardage (1,980) and is tied third with 14 career receiving touchdowns on Tech's all-time list. Blackshear holds the Southwest Conference (SWC) and Texas Tech single-game record with 251 against Houston (five receptions- 50.2 avg.).
He also holds Tech's all-time record for career yards per reception with 20.4 and was awarded the Red Raiders "Team MVP" honor in 1990 and "Team Leadership" honor in 1991. Blackshear was honored as a two-time All-SWC member from 90-91 and received invitations to the Blue-Gray Game and the Japan Bowl in 1991.
As for Phillips, the former UH consensus All-America wide receiver moves to defense for the 2005 season after two years of coaching the Cougar wide outs, producing an All-Conference USA First-Team selection in 2003 (Brandon Middleton), Marshall's Second-Team honors a year ago, as well as two selections to the Conference USA All-Freshman squad (Leonard Gibson in 2003 and Donnie Avery in 2004).
Even though Phillips has spent his entire playing and coaching career on the offensive side of the ball, Briles is amazed at Phillips' commitment to the UH program in initiating the switch.
"Jason approached me and said he wanted to whatever he could to help this program," added Briles, "and if it meant changing responsibilities, he would do it. That was an unselfish move on his part, and we are extremely grateful to have someone like Jason in this program."
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