West Virginia football assistant Wright relies on hard work to move up

Dontae Wright isn’t one to talk or dwell about his accomplishments.

No, he prefers to let his work speak for itself.

It’s something that the new West Virginia outside linebackers coach has relied on throughout each step of his career which has brought him further up the coaching ladder in college football.

A lot of coaches would advance in their careers by either writing letters or reaching out to prior relationships they met through other people to campaign for positions. Wright simply allows his work and largely his reputation do the talking to possible employers.

To speak to this, every job that Weight has gotten he has never had to encourage somebody on reach out on his behalf. He’s simply used the respect and admiration for his work that he’s earned in previous stops to allow that to do the talking for him.

“Somebody else had reached out to a head coach and said you need to check this guy out and when they come and check me out, what the person has said matches up with who I am and that takes care of itself,” Wright said.

That’s part of the fabric of Wright as a person and a professional so he always prepared for any opportunity that could come along to ensure the moment isn’t too big.

That person that vouched for Wright when the Mountaineers job came open?

Gerad Parker, the new offensive coordinator, had a past relationship with Wright with both growing up in eastern Kentucky, essentially an extension of the Mountain State. He knew the type of person and coach that he was and took it upon himself to provide his name to Neal Brown when the job came open.

“I know where he comes from and I know his heart. I know that he knows what West Virginia means to these people. We know what these mountains mean to these people,” Parker said.

The entire process can best be described as a whirlwind as Wright first received a call from a number he didn’t recognize out of nowhere without any warning. The person on the other end of the line was West Virginia head coach Neal Brown who discussed what he had heard about the young assistant.

No promises were made, but Brown did say that an interview could be possible. That was it, the call was over, and Wright was left wondering if there would be a next step.

So Wright, resting on his preparation sit back and waited.

The answer came the next day when Wright received word that an interview had been scheduled for Wednesday. Four days later he was offered the job and within 48-hours he was on the first flight to Morgantown in order to take the next step in his coaching career.

“I’m always ready to go so it was time to go,” he said.

Because he has essentially worked his way up to all divisions of college football, Wright understands what it takes to do the job at all levels.

Ball is ball and recruiting is recruiting but each step you take it requires more and more effort. Now, he doesn’t have to go out and paint the field or clean a locker room because there are other people that will do that, but he understands his past.

It’s helped shape his coaching career and his appreciation of where he’s came from over time.

“Treat people the right way and work your butt off,” he said.

Now Wright is inheriting a position group that is one of the more experienced on the roster, but he is ready for the next challenge learning a new system and understanding where all the pieces fit.

Just another jump for a rising assistant that continues to impress at every stop along the way and others are recognizing.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @PatrickKotnik

•Like us on Facebook