Former Bowie State quarterback Nyema Washington has been named the Cleveland Browns’ next Bill Willis Diversity Coaching Fellow and will take his expertise to Cleveland to assist in coaching the skill positions. He’ll provide aid in the quarterback, wide receiver, running back and tight end rooms in 2023.
The fellowship was named after Bill Willis, who, along with Browns teammate and legend Marion Motley, became one of the first two African-American professional football players in the modern era. Willis played with the Browns from 1946-53 and was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
After a serious cholesterol granuloma cyst on his brain nearly ended his football career, Nyema Washington played five games and completed 73 of 121 pass attempts (60 percent) for 992 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions, and his success helped the Bulldogs advance to the CIAA Championship Game.
Washington would go on to He went to work as a student assistant role with Bowie State from 2016-17. From there he went to West Virginia State at the end of 2017 as a graduate assistant and returned to Bowie State in 2019 as a receivers coach. He was hired as Wheeling’s offensive coordinator in 2021.
“I’m thrilled to be able to add Nemo to our staff,” Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “When we were looking to replace Israel and looking to add to our staff, we really cast a very wide net and talked to a lot of people. We did a lot of work and just spent some time with Nemo. He has a very unique story, which I’m excited for everybody to learn about, but he’s so excited about this opportunity.
“This is what this program is for – to go find really good coaches out there that you can go develop on the offensive side of the ball – and Nemo, I think, fits the bill really well.”
Washington is also a former contributor to HBCU Gameday. Congrats!