Washington State’s Jake Dickert announced the hiring of former Atlanta Falcons assistant Nick Edwards to serve as the Cougars’ new wide receivers coach on Tuesday.

Edwards arrives in Pullman with experience coaching both in the Pac-12 and in the Pacific Northwest. During the 2022 season, he worked alongside the Falcons’ offensive coordinator with gameplan duties.

“I am excited to complete our fulltime staff with Nick Edwards as our wide receivers coach,” Dickert said in a release. “Nick stood out because of his ties to our region, experience at the Pac-12 level as well as the NFL, and his knowledge and ability to teach the concepts and techniques of wide receiver play. We know he is the right fit for our program and can’t wait to get him and his family here to the Palouse.”

Edwards joined Atlanta’s staff after two seasons (2020-21) as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Cal Poly. In 2020, Edwards participated in the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with the Minnesota Vikings.

Before that, Edwards spent three seasons (2017-19) as an assistant at Cal. He coached wideouts his first two seasons with the Golden Bears and then coached the running backs during his third year.

An Eastern Washington graduate, Edwards was an FCS All-American wideout and part of the 2010 FCS national championship team. He set a school record with 95 receptions as a junior in 2011, when he also hauled in 19 touchdowns.

In 2014, Edwards joined the coaching staff at EWU as the wideout coach. He spent three seasons with the program, during which time he coached future NFL wideout Cooper Kupp.

Edwards will be taking over a room in flux in Pullman. The Cougs have to replace each of their top four receivers from last year. Renard Bell and Robert Ferrel graduated while outside receivers De’Zhaun Stribling and Donovan Ollie transferred out of the program. The Cougs’ leading returning receiver is Lincoln Victor (245 yards, 26 receptions). The staff hit the transfer portal hard for reinforcements, adding three new receivers to the team.