Wright has some lofty goals for senior season at Temple

NEWPORT, R.I. — The mere mention of Isaiah Wright’s name sends chills up the spine of every special teams coordinator on Temple’s schedule in the 2019 season. While the American Athletic Conference’s 2018 Special Teams Player of the Year wants to add some spectacular kickoff and punt returns to his highlight package, he also has some other goals.

While Wright finished second among Football Bowl Subdivision players with 1,122 yards on special teams returns in 2018, he wants to become more of a factor on offense. He mentioned the possibility of topping the 1,000yard mark in rushing and receiving yards.

“I would like to do that, but I would also like to be realistic. I set goals for at least 600 receiving and 600 rushing [yards],” Wright said. “I don’t know specifically how many more times I will touch the ball, but I am going to do whatever I need to do to get the numbers.”

The 600600 club is a rather small and select group including current NFL players Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel so Wright has his work cut out for him.

Wright enters his final season with 86 career carries and 87 receptions. Firstyear Temple coach Rod Carey wasn’t ready to throw out a number of how many times Wright might carry the ball, but he has no problems moving him around and utilizing him as a receiver and running back.

“The thing that we have to guard against is being the jack of all trades and master of none,” Carey said. “His primary position is wide receiver but will we hand the ball off to him in a myriad of ways? We wouldn’t be very smart coaches if we didn’t because he is a really talented individual. We will do that for as much as he allows which right now looks like a lot.”

Carey was hired after a rather actionpacked offseason at Temple with Geoff Collins taking the job at Georgia Tech and Manny Diaz accepting the job before changing his mind and accepting the head coaching job at Miami where he served as the defensive coordinator. Carey will be the third head coach that Wright will play for at Temple as Matt Rhule left after Wright’s freshman season to take over at Baylor. Wright admits to some initial frustration at the revolving door but over time has realized that working with different coaches broadens his football horizons and introduces him to different systems and philosophies. It could serve him well at the next level and he is already receiving draftable grades. However, being the latest Connecticut native to hear his name called during the NFL draft is not what he is focusing on at the current time. When the time is right, however, he won’t be shy about reaching out to his former teammates who landed on NFL rosters.

“I am just focused on what I need to do this year,” Wright said. “I don’t want to make a decision too fast so I will lean on those guys who are already in the position to give me the guidance that I need.”

The 6foot2, 220pound Wright began to open eyes during his time at Holy Cross before heading off to Kingswood Oxford. In his three years at the West Hartford school Wright ran for 12 touchdowns, caught 29 TD passes and also returned a kickoff, fumble and interception for scores while throwing a touchdown pass. Whenever he returns home to Waterbury, he is reminded just how far he has come.

“When I return home, a lot of people are telling me that I give hope to kids who were in my position,” Wright said. “It is very special, I didn’t expect to be in this position so to be here, I am grateful to have this opportunity to continue to motivate those who are trying to do the same.”

While many of his friends and neighbors envisioned a future playing basketball, Wright was captivated by watching gamebreaking football players take a kickoff or punt and dart their way into the end zone.

“I watched a lot of highlights growing up and that is what has motivated me to become the player I am today,” Wright said. “It is just instincts, [knowing] when it time to go.

“On kickoff returns it is easier to tell what people are going to do because they are coming from a further distance and you read body language so that is what I do, I try to slow down my game.”

Wright enters his senior season in the top five in AAC history with 375 punt return yards and 873 yards on kickoff returns and he set conference records by averaging 13.1 yards per punt return and with two punt returns for touchdowns. He is currently the AAC career leader with an average of 11.7 yards per punt return and third with a kickoff return average of 25.9.

“He is so good at a lot of things, hand/eye [coordination], he has good speed, he has great feet, his vision is really good, he is highly intelligent on top of all of that,” Carey said. “When you put all of that together, you are getting the total package.”

james.fuller @hearstmediact.com; @NHRJimFuller

Stephen Dunn / Associated Press