Florida State University Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Wide Receivers Coach
Ron Dugans, a four-year letterman and 1999 national champion at Florida State, enters his sixth season coaching wide receivers at FSU in 2024.
Dugans has helped lead FSU back to the elite tier of college football as the 2023 team completed a 13-0 regular season that culminated in the program’s 16th ACC championship with a victory over No. 14 Louisville in the ACC Championship Game and earned a berth in the Orange Bowl behind an offense that led the conference in scoring for the second consecutive year. Florida State’s 34.6 points-per-game average was bolstered by a program-record-tying 20 different players scoring at least one touchdown and ranked 19th overall in the country. The Seminoles also led the ACC with 61 total touchdowns scored, 32 rushing touchdowns and an average of 13.5 yards per completion while posting the conference’s fewest interceptions thrown and total turnovers.
FSU’s receiving corps was led by all-conference performers and 2024 NFL Draft picks Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson. Coleman, who was the 33rd overall pick after garnering All-America accolades for his 2023 season, led the ACC with 11 receiving touchdowns, the eight-highest single-season total in program history, and became the first FSU player to earn first-team All-ACC honors at three different positions when he was named the conference’s best wide receiver, all-purpose player and return specialist. Coleman caught 50 passes for 658 yards and burst onto the scene in his first game with the Seminoles by catching a career-high three touchdowns that tied the FSU record for a season opener as part of a nine-catch, 122-yard game in the season-opening win over No. 5 LSU. Wilson led Florida State in receiving seven different times during the season despite only playing 10 games and finished the year with 41 receptions for 617 yards before being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. With Coleman and Wilson both out at Pitt, Ja’Khi Douglas registered the first 100-yard receiving game of his career in Florida State’s 24-7 win.
In 2022, Dugans helped lead FSU to a 10-3 record and a final ranking of No. 10 in the Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the AP poll. Florida State led the nation with its average of 7.46 plays of 20-plus yards per game, the program’s highest season average since the 2013 national championship, and was third in the country with an explosive play rate of 17.15 percent. The Seminoles were one of two teams nationally to average at least 270 passing yards and at least 210 rushing yards per game in 2022. FSU also tied for the national lead with eight touchdown drives of 90-plus yards, and its 16 touchdown drives of 80-plus yards were third-most in the country.
The Seminoles led the ACC in third-down offense, yards gained per pass, yards gained per play, yards gained per rush, total offense per game, yards per completion, rushing offense per game and scoring offense per game. Florida State was the first team to lead the ACC in scoring offense and total in the same season since 2019 and was one of two teams nationally to lead its conference in yards per rush, yards per pass and yards per play in 2022.
The 2022 receiving corps was led by second-team All-ACC performer Johnny Wilson, whose average of 20.86 yards per reception after totaling 897 yards on 43 catches ranked fifth nationally. Wilson made a career-high eight receptions for a career-high 202 receiving yards in FSU’s Cheez-It Bowl victory vs. Oklahoma. His receiving yards output broke the Cheez-It Bowl record, was the most in a bowl game in program history and the highest single-game total by an FSU receiver since 2016 and was the only 200-yard receiving game during the 2022 bowl season. Wilson accounted for an ACC-high 22 catches of at least 20 yards and also had 100-yard receiving games in wins at Louisville and vs. Georgia Tech.
Ontaria Wilson and Kentron Poitier also made strong contributions in 2022, combining for 76 receptions for 1,108 yards and 11 touchdowns. Wilson made two touchdown receptions in the 24-23 win vs. LSU, staying focused through pass interference on both, caught the game-winning score on the third play of Florida State’s 45-3 victory at Miami, and added a scoring grab in the Cheez-It Bowl. Poitier also made four touchdown receptions and led the Seminoles in receiving yards twice.
His 2021 group featured impact transfer Andrew Parchment as well as key returners Ontaria Wilson and Keyshawn Helton and true freshman Malik McClain. That quartet combined for 1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns on 82 receptions. Wilson’s five touchdowns were the most on the team, and his average of 16.61 yards per reception ranked ninth in the ACC. Parchment, Helton and McClain each had multiple receiving touchdowns as well.
During the 2020 season, Dugans directed the development of a young position group without a senior on the roster. Ontaria Wilson showcased his explosiveness, leading the team with 30 receptions for 382 yards and grabbing FSU’s two longest receptions of the year, including a career-long 69-yard touchdown catch at North Carolina State. Helton returned from a season-ending injury in 2019 to play all nine games in 2020.
In his first season back in Tallahassee, Dugans’ group helped the Seminoles tie for 22nd in the nation in completion percentage, their highest ranking since 2014. Dugans had six receivers with at least 15 catches in 2019, including two who missed significant time due to injury. Junior D.J. Matthews made 36 grabs for 355 yards and three touchdowns, while Helton caught 17 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns before a season-ending injury in the sixth game of the season and Ontaria Wilson, who missed the final five games of the regular season due to injury, had 21 catches for 227 yards and one touchdown.
Dugans returned to Florida State after three years as wide receivers coach at Miami. In his first two seasons there he also served as passing game coordinator before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator for the 2018 season. Prior to his time in Coral Gables, he coached wide receivers at South Florida in 2014 and 2015 following four years as Louisville’s wide receivers coach. Dugans began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at FSU in 2005 and 2006, after which he was a coaching assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL and then served as wide receivers coach at Georgia Southern for three seasons.
In 2018, Dugans co-coordinated an offense that converted at least 45 percent of its third-down conversions in seven games after only reaching that benchmark twice the year before. In 2017, he helped direct the Hurricanes to a 10-win season that culminated with an appearance in the Capital One Orange Bowl. Braxton Berrios had career-high totals with 52 receptions, 634 yards and nine touchdowns while earning All-ACC recognition and the Jim Tatum Award as the ACC’s top student-athlete in addition to being a finalist for the Campbell Trophy. In Dugans’ first season at Miami, he guided Ahmmon Richards to Freshman All-America and All-ACC honors after breaking UM’s freshman receiving record with 934 yards. Senior Stacy Coley also was named All-ACC after becoming only the eighth Hurricane to accumulate 2,000 career receiving yards behind a career-high 754 yards in 2016.
Dugans’ receivers broke USF’s single-season touchdown record in both of his seasons at South Florida. In 2014, Andre Davis set the Bulls’ record with seven receiving scores despite missing four games due to injury. The following year, Dugans tutored Rodney Adams to a career-high 822 yards and a school-record nine receiving touchdowns as USF finished 8-5 and played in the Miami Beach Bowl.
Dugans helped lead a program revitalization in his four seasons at Louisville. The Cardinals were 23-3 over the 2012 and 2013 seasons, including 11-2 with a victory over Florida in the Sugar Bowl in 2012 and a 12-1 mark in 2013 that culminated with a win over Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl. He guided wide receiver DeVante Parker, the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, to first-team All-AAC honors in 2013 as the junior caught 55 passes for 885 yards and 12 touchdowns. Parker, who was also a 2012 first-team All-BIG EAST selection after posting 10 touchdown receptions, caught 28 touchdowns in his first three seasons. Three Cardinal receivers caught 40 or more passes in 2013, including senior Damian Copeland who had a career-best 58 receptions for 780 yards for his second straight 50-catch season.
Prior to his time at Louisville, Dugans coached the receivers at Georgia Southern. Under Dugans’ guidance, Raja Andrews broke numerous single-season school records in 2008, including 64 receptions, 873 yards and five 100-yard receiving games, while finishing the year ranked 15th nationally in receptions per game and 20th in receiving yards. Dugans started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at FSU, working in the strength and conditioning program in 2005 before working with the offense in 2006. He also served as a coaching assistant in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2007.
Dugans was a wide receiver at FSU from 1995-99, playing his first two seasons before taking a medical redshirt in 1997. He returned to start in 1998 and 1999, helping the Seminoles reach the BCS National Championship Game in both seasons. He caught six passes for 135 yards in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl against Tennessee and grabbed five receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns in the 2000 Sugar Bowl win over Virginia Tech that gave FSU its second national championship and completed the first wire-to-wire season as the Associated Press’ No. 1-ranked team. In his career, he made 105 receptions for 1,520 yards and seven touchdowns. He was selected by Cincinnati in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft and played professionally for four seasons, compiling 89 catches for 797 yards and three touchdowns in 46 games.
A Tallahassee native, Dugans was a three-sport standout at Florida A&M University Developmental Research School. He played football, rushing for 730 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding 75 tackles and seven interceptions on defense as a senior, in addition to winning two state championships in basketball and three team track and field state titles, including two individual triple jump state championships.
Dugans and his wife, Yasheka, have four children, Yasmin, Y’Allana, Yanni and Ron, Jr.
| Years | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2019- | Florida State | Wide Receivers |
| 2018 | Miami | co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers |
| 2016-17 | Miami | Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach |
| 2014-15 | South Florida | Wide Receivers |
| 2010-13 | Louisville | Wide Receivers |
| 2007-09 | Georgia Southern | Wide Receivers |
| 2007 | Cincinnati Bengals | Offensive Assistant |
| 2005-06 | Florida State | Graduate Assistant |
