With many of their special teams units languishing near the bottom of league rankings, the Redskins hired an assistant coach to work the Special Teams Coach Danny Smith. Richard Hightower coached wide receivers for the University of Minnesota last year, but he will assist Smith on the Redskins staff in 2010.
"We knew we would need someone with a lot of energy to keep up with Danny Smith, and Richard is that coach," executive vice president/head coach Mike Shanahan said. "He has both youth and experience, and he will be a great asset to our special teams and our organization."
If you're wondering where the connection to Shanahan might be, look no further than the Houston Texans, where Redskins Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan coached the past few years. Hightower was a coaching administrator [whatever that is] in 2005 and 2006 and a special teams assistant coach in 2007-08 before moving on to his most recent job with the University of Minnesota.
Hightower was a walk-on player at the University of Texas, where he played as a defensive back, wide receiver, and, of course, on special teams.
Hightower has no connection to Danny Smith that I can find, meaning he's a Shanahan guy, not a Danny Smith guy. In other words, it might be a good idea for Smith to improve the efficiency of his special teams; a replacement for his job is already on the payroll.
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