Texas football interviews Washington State WR coach Joel Filani

It appears that there is a new candidate that is very much on the radar for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program to replace the recently-departed wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brennan Marion. This name to watch for Texas to potentially be the next wide receivers coach is the Washington State Cougars WR coach Joel Filani.

A report from Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods on Jan. 14 (subscriber content) indicates that Sark and the Longhorns interviewed Filani for the wide receivers coach position this week. This Orangebloods piece reports that Filani flew into Austin this week to interview for this job opening with the Longhorns.

Filani was reportedly the first candidate for this position that Sark has met with in person.

A report from Bobby Burton of Inside Texas on Jan. 14 (paid content) also confirms that a source said that Filani was in Austin this week.

Texas football and Steve Sarkisian conduct first WR coach interview with Wazzu’s Joel Filani

In the last half-decade or so, Filani has quietly become one of the better wide receivers coaches in all of college football. The former Texas Tech Red Raiders standout wide receiver first started his college football coaching journey as a graduate assistant with the Boise State Broncos in 2013 and 2014 under former head coaches Chris Petersen and Bryan Harsin.

Ahead of the 2015 campaign, Filani landed his first gig on a Power Five staff when he joined Washington State and the late former head coach Mike Leach as an offensive quality control coach. Filani was part of a Washington State program that won nine games in 2015 and that boasted one of the best passing offenses in the entire country (averaged nearly 400 passing yards per game and more than three touchdown tosses).

His time with Wazzu and Boise State would act as a springboard for him to get his first FBS position coaching gig ahead of the 2016 season. The North Texas Mean Green and former head coach Seth Littrell hired Filani as their wide receivers coach, which is a role he held until 2018.

During his three years as North Texas’ WR coach, Filani helped to develop standout players at the position such as Jaelon Darden, Rico Bussey Jr., and Jalen Guyton. The former of two of those three wideouts would go on to have at least one season with more than 1,000 receiving yards and a dozen touchdown catches in their careers at North Texas.

What wound up drawing Filani away from North Texas was the opportunity to be the wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Texas Tech. Filani took the WR coach gig with the Red Raiders and former head coach Matt Wells ahead of the 2019 season.

In the three seasons that Filani spent as Texas Tech’s wide receivers coach, he helped to develop key players at the position such as KeSean Carter, Myles Price, and Erik Ezukanma. He was also the leading recruiter that got a commitment out of the underrated former three-star WR prospect Jerand Bradley for Texas Tech.

Bradley proved to be one of the best finds among non-blue-chip recruits in the last few recruiting cycles for the Red Raiders after posting a breakout 2022 campaign where he registered more than 700 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.

Moreover, Filani’s current position as we speak on Jan. 14 is with Washington State as its wide receivers coach. Filani got the Washington State WR coach position ahead of the 2022 season under head coach Jake Dickert.

But it sounds like Filani’s time at Wazzu might be short-lived after just one season at the helm if he moves forward in the interview process with the Longhorns in the next week or so.

Sark and the Longhorns are currently looking for their third wide receivers coach in the last two years after Marion took the offensive coordinator job under new head coach Barry Odom with the UNLV Rebels last weekend. Marion held the position of Texas WR coach for one year after Sark and the Longhorns parted ways with former wide receivers coach Andre Coleman early last offseason.