Wide receivers coach Brett Bartolone only completed his own college football career in 2016, but multiple shoulder injuries derailed his time between the hashes moving him onto the sidelines.

Bartolone played as a wide receiver at Washington State in Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense. His shoulder injuries resulted in an expedition of his coaching career working as a graduate assistant with the wide receivers and the offensive coaching staff.

Bartolone worked at three Division III colleges in the years after graduating from WSU. He also worked abroad for a European amateur team in France as its offensive coordinator averaging 31.6 points per game.

Prior to landing at Jackson State, Bartolone served as an offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach for Nevada. Leach was ultimately the one who united Deion Sanders and Bartolone together with the Tigers.

“[Leach] has been instrumental in everywhere that I’ve been and obviously I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him and his relationship with Coach Prime,” Bartolone said. “He’s one of the greats and him helping me get that role last year at Jackson State, and being in that role was huge for me in my career development.”