BYU football: Top candidates to replace Ty Detmer as OC

Dennis Simmons, Oklahoma Wide Receivers Coach

Dennis Simmons – a former BYU football player – may find his way back to Provo as well.

Simmons played in Provo from 1992-96 and was reportedly a candidate for the wide receivers coach opening back in 2015.

At that time, Simmons had the same role at Washington State, where he developed a reputation for being one of the best recruiters in the country. He had followed Mike Leach to Wazzu from Texas Tech, where they coached together for 10 years.

We’ll never know if Simmons was offered the job in Provo or not, but he did choose to become the wide receivers coach at Oklahoma that same offseason.

Simmons has a long line of success stories credited to his name. At Texas Tech he coached Michael Crabtree. At ECU he had Justin Hardy. While at Wazzu he discovered Vince Mayle and turned him from a basketball player into a Pac-12 standout who caught 106 passes in 2015.

Not too shabby, especially for a team that is in desperate need of help at the wide receiver position.