Welcome to the eleventh annual Catamount Football "100 days to Football Kickoff Countdown".
During the countdown, we'll highlight the player whose number corresponds to that day in the countdown. To help pass those long summer days, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, and knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the football countdown each day until kickoff Saturday.
Since the official 2021 Catamount Football Roster has not yet been published, we'll use the 2021 Catamount Football Preseason Roster for jersey numbers until the new roster is posted, at which point we'll switch to the official roster for the remainder of the countdown.
It's now 63 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Saturday, September 4th, 2021, against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, in E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC.
No player is currently assigned to #63, so today we'll highlight another assistant coach:
Rylan Wells
Rylan Wells joined the Western Carolina football coaching staff in the spring of 2021 after a year at Tusculum University where he mentored the Pioneers’ running backs as a part of claiming the 2021 spring South Atlantic Conference championship. Wells also served as the video coordinator while at Tusculum. With the Catamounts, Wells will work with the tight ends and fullbacks within the offensive set, while also serving as the program's recruiting coordinator.
In the five-game 2021 spring schedule, Tusculum averaged 37.6 points per game and over 530 yards of offense per game including 139.2 yards per game on the ground. Under Wells’ tutelage, the junior running back tandem of TJ Jones and Maurice Gomillion accounted for 501 rushing yards and nine of the team’s 12 scores on the ground. The duo also recorded 26 receptions for 368 yards in five games, an average of 73.6 receivi
ng yards per game, and amassed 173.8 yards of total offense per game.
Wells earned his start on the coaching staff at his alma mater at Jacksonville University for two seasons (2018-2019) where he was an offensive graduate assistant. With the Dolphins, he coached the offensive tackles in 2018 and the wide receivers in 2019. The 2018 Jacksonville offense ranked third in the nation in rushing, averaging 345.3 yards per game while boasting the nation’s fifth-ranked individual rusher in Calvin Turner, who ran for 1,431 yards in 10 games and posted the nation’s third-best average per game (143.1). Wells additionally served as the film coordinator for JU during the 2019 campaign.
Originally from Tega Cay, S.C., Wells was a member of the Jacksonville football team from 2013-2017 where he started at quarterback for 34 games. He finished his collegiate career ranked among the top-five in Jacksonville history in rushing touchdowns (20), pass completions (257), passing attempts (444), completion percentage, and total offense (5,519 yds).
A 2017 team captain at Jacksonville, Wells started in all 11 games under center, passing for 1,480 yards and 11 touchdowns while also rushing for 472 yards and eight scores. A three-time Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Week honoree, he was recognized as an Honorable Mention for the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Week following a performance against Davidson College that included five combined touchdowns and a Dolphins win.
In 2016, he became the first Jacksonville player to lead the Dolphins in both rushing and passing yards in the same season, accumulating 1,744 passing yards and 614 yards on the ground in 10 games. He scored 11 touchdowns each way, he fell one score shy of the program single-game record against Marist, rushing for four in one game.
Wells earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Jacksonville in 2018 and completed his master’s degree in sport management in 2020.
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