Former Stanford football great Troy Walters was named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and receivers coach at Indiana State University on Wednesday.

Sycamores' second-year coach Trent Miles, who coached a year at Stanford under Tyrone Willingham and followed him to Notre Dame and Washington, made the announcement at a press conference.

"Troy Walters' success on the field as a player brings him instant credibility with our players," Miles said. "His knowledge of the game is from the highest levels of football. His greatest qualities mirror everything that our program stands for. He was a tremendous player on the field; he was a great student in the classroom and is a leader in the community. This is a great day for our program to welcome someone with the experience Troy Walters brings into the Sycamore football family."

Walters, who spent eight years in the NFL, was a record-setting receiver and returner for the Cardinal and played on its Rose Bowl team in 2000 despite suffering a dislocated right wrist in practice days earlier.

Walters recorded 244 pass receptions for 3,986 yards with 26 touchdowns scored at Stanford, where he was a consensus All-American and Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. He also scored three touchdowns on punt returns.

He set a Pac-10 record for career receptions and set the school career marks for receptions and yards, as well as ranking second in receiving touchdowns. Walters won the Bilentnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver in college football as a senior with 74 catches for 1,456 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His 3,986 yards receiving was seventh in the history of college football and his 244 pass receptions were 19th.

"I have been blessed to have played with and played for with so many great offensive minds during my career," Walters said. "I believe I have received a lot of great knowledge from some many people who have demonstrated how to do things successfully."

And for Walters, the chance to join the Indiana State football program represents a great opportunity for an accomplished player to join the collegiate coaching ranks.

"After talking with Trent, I became very excited about the direction he has the Sycamore football program going in," Walters said. "I am very excited about the opportunity to come here. Coaching football has been a goal of mine and working with this program is a great start to this phase of my career."

Walters began his NFL playing career with the Minnesota Vikings in 2000 after being selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

His father, Trent Walters, has been an assistant coach at Indiana, Louisville, Washington, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M and Notre Dame, and in the NFL withthe Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles.

-- PA Weekly Online Sports

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