Bryan Ellis returned to WKU for his second stint with the Hilltoppers in December 2018 and currently serves as co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach. He was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2020 and 2019 seasons.
2020
Graduate transfer quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome started 10 games for the Hilltoppers and set the program’s all-time record with 279 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, surpassing Brandon Doughty’s mark of 176 that spanned across the 2013-14 seasons. Pigrome did not throw a pick until the LendingTree Bowl against Georgia State. Between Pigrome and Kevaris Thomas, WKU quarterbacks ranked tied for 17th in FBS with only four interceptions thrown.
2019
Ellis helped the Hilltoppers improve their offensive production from the year prior in almost every category. WKU increased their points per game by 4.3 points and scored 8 more touchdowns than in 2018. The Hilltoppers passing offense upped their totals to 259.3 yards per game and 20 touchdowns while completing 67% of their passes.
Quarterback Ty Storey, assumed the starting role before WKU’s fourth game vs. UAB. As a starter, Storey held a record of 8-2, culminating in a 9-4 overall record, leading the Hilltoppers to a First Responder Bowl victory over Western Michigan. Storey completed 241-of-345 passes for 1,567 yards, with 14 touchdowns while also rushing for 276 yards and 7 touchdowns over the course of the 2019 season.
The WKU offensive line saw tremendous improvement from the 2018 season. PFF College ranked the Hilltoppers 20th in the FBS as an offensive line, including No. 1 in pass-blocking grade. Gaej Walker saw his first action at running back at the start of the 2019 season after changing positions from defensive back, starting all 13 games. He finished second in Conference USA with 241 carries and 1,208 yards, rushing for over 100 yards in 7 games, tying for the most in the conference. WKU’s receiving duo of Lucky Jackson and Jahcour Pearson was nothing short of spectacular combining for 170 receptions, 1,937 yards and 11 touchdowns. Jackson set the all-time Hilltopper program record with 17 catches vs. Western Michigan in the First Responder Bowl after previously setting the record earlier in the season with 16 catches against Marshall.
Previous
The former quarterback coach at Southern California, Ellis returns for his second stint at WKU after previously coaching wide receivers (2016) and running backs (2015) during his first tour of duty. Ellis came to WKU as an offensive quality control assistant in 2014 where he assisted Helton in developing the quarterbacks.
At USC, Ellis’ final role was quarterback coach where he was tasked with developing the successor to Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall draft pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. During the 2018 season, Ellis navigated the development of true freshman JT Daniels, just the second true freshman to start a season opener for the Trojans in program history. Not only was Daniels a true freshman, he also reclassified and joined the program a year early.
All Daniels did in his debut was post the top passing yardage performance by a Trojan in his playing debut with 282 yards on 21-of-35 passing. Under Ellis’ direction, Daniels became the first USC true freshman to throw for 300-plus yards since Matt Barkley in 2009.
Prior to his bump to a full-time role with the Trojans, Ellis assisted Helton in the quarterback’s room where the duo worked together with Darnold during the 2017 campaign. That season, Darnold set school record marks for passing yards (4,143, the first 4,000-yard passer in school history) and total offense (4,225 yards, the first Trojan over 4,000 yards) as well as most 200-yard (13) and 300-yard (8) passing games.
Ellis’ previous work on The Hill was vast and varied as he worked with three different position groups on the offensive side of the ball, culminating with stepping into the offensive coordinator’s role for the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl. With Ellis calling the shots, the Hilltoppers piled up 598 yards of total offense including a WKU bowl record 262 rushing yards and 51 points. Ellis’ fake-kneel down call resulted in national attention on the program, and the play was mimicked by the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. All-American offensive tackle Forrest Lamp also scored his one and only touchdown while on The Hill as Ellis dialed up a lateral pass to the lineman for the catch-and-run score.
In his wide receiver room that season, Ellis’ two primary pupils, Taywan Taylor and Nicholas Norris, capped their incredible careers as the No. 1 and No. 2 wideouts in school history. The duo joined a pair from Louisiana Tech as the nation’s only pair to eclipse 1,300 receiving yards on the season, and WKU’s offense was the first in FBS history to have a 4,000-yard receiver, a 4,000-yard rusher, and a 3,000-yard receiver on the same roster.
Taylor’s 2016 campaign, which preceded his selection in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft as the second-highest pick in school history, resulted in school record marks for receptions (98), receiving yards (1,730), and receiving touchdowns (17) as he extended he school career record marks in every major category including: receptions (253), receiving yards (4,234), and touchdowns (41). Norris, to his credit, finished his career second behind only Taylor in those same categories as 194 receptions for 3,091 yards and 26 touchdowns.
In his first year as a full-time assistant in 2015, Ellis inherited a bevy of talented, experienced running backs, including a senior leader in Leon Allen who had rushed for over 1,500 yards the previous season. Three games in, however, Ellis was charged with replacing Allen who suffered a season-ending knee injury. WKU's running backs responded by producing a sixth-straight 1,000-yard rusher in Anthony Wales and an All-Freshman running back in D'Andre Ferby, the league's top one-two combo in the back field.
Ellis came to The Hill in 2014 to serve as an offensive quality control coach, where he assisted Helton, then the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, with the development of the Hilltopper signal callers. That year was the beginning of WKU's transition into one of the nation's top passing offenses as quarterback Brandon Doughty led the FBS in passing yards (4,830) and touchdowns (49) in what was then his senior year.
Ellis enjoyed a stellar prep and collegiate career as a quarterback at UAB where he spent the 2013 season in a similar capacity for the Blazers.
In 2010, Ellis had nine starts at quarterback for the Blazers with 2,940 passing yards and 25 touchdowns in 11 total games. After his playing career was done, Ellis transitioned to a graduate assistant coaching role working with the quarterbacks for two seasons.
Ellis, a Byron, Ga., native, had an outstanding prep career at Peach County High and was tabbed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution AAA State Offensive Player of the Year. He passed for more than 3,600 and threw 31 touchdowns as a senior, leading his Trojans' squad to a 14-1 record and Class AAA State Championship. Ellis is married to the former Janie Cox, and the couple has a daughter, Zoey, and a son, Cade.
THE BRYAN ELLIS FILE
PERSONAL
Born: September 13, 1988
Hometown: Byron, Ga.
College: UAB, ‘11
Wife: Janie
Children: Zoey and Cade
PLAYING CAREER (Quarterback)
College: UAB (2007-11)
COACHING CAREER
2012-13: UAB (Graduate Assistant)
2014: WKU (Offensive Quality Control)
2015: WKU (Running Backs)
2016: WKU (Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers)
2017: USC (Offensive Assistant)
2018: USC (Quarterbacks)
2019-2020: WKU (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2021: WKU (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Inside Receivers)
