Marshall Sports Information

 

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall head coach Doc Holliday announced Thursday that Mike Furrey has officially joined the Thundering Herd football staff as its wide receivers coach.

Furrey, an eight-year NFL veteran at wide receiver/defensive back for St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins, comes to Huntington after two seasons as the head coach and offensive coordinator at Kentucky Christian University.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Mike and his family to our program,” Holliday said. “He brings with him an outstanding resume, not only as a coach and a person, but also as someone who played at the game’s highest level for the length he did. Our wide receiver unit is in good hands.”

At KCU, he took an 0-11 program and turned it into one that boasted a 7-4 record and a national ranking of No. 25 in NAIA Division I by the end of the 2012 season. He also coached the wide receivers and quarterbacks at KCU and raised and secured funds to build KCU’s turf field.

“It is an honor and a privilege to get an opportunity to coach at Marshall with this staff,” said Furrey. “I am excited to work with Coach Holliday and Coach Legg, two men who have tremendous respect in the coaching community.”

Prior to KCU, he served as the wide receiver/secondary coach at Madison Plains High School in London, Ohio, after a successful career in the NFL.

While with the Cleveland Browns, he won the 2010 JB Award, an award given annually to those who specialize in community service by CBS studio host James Brown. Furrey also won the NFL’s prestigious Ed Block Courage Award, which highlights those who show the qualities of courage, compassion, commitment and community service.

In 2009, he was a finalist for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honors a player’s volunteer and charity work as well as his excellence on the field. Furrey also was nominated for the award in 2007 and 2008.

While with the Lions, Furrey led the NFC in receptions (98) in 2006 and was second only to Houston’s Andre Johnson in the NFL.

He set an NFL non-rookie record for a having the most catches after not recording one in the previous season. He also was named the Lions’ Co-Offensive Player of the Year and served as the organization’s union representative in the NFLPA. For his career, he finished with 221 catches for 2,298 yards and seven touchdowns.

In 2007, he founded and became president of the Mike Furrey Foundation. The organization’s goal is to improve the lives of those who are hurting, homeless, hopeful and/or hungry. To date, the foundation has raised more than $500,000.

Prior to his NFL career, he played for the Las Vegas Outlaws in the XFL in 2001 (18 catches, 243 yards, one touchdown) and for the Arena Football League’s New York Dragons for two years. He was leading the AFL in receptions (108), receiving yards (1,574), receiving touchdowns (46, tying an AFL record for touchdowns in a single season), and points (288) when he left the Dragons on April 29, 2003 to sign with the Rams.

During his collegiate days, Furrey was a three-time All-American at Northern Iowa after transferring from Ohio State, where he was a member of the team that won the 1996 Rose Bowl. In his three years at UNI, Furrey set new Gateway Football Conference receiving records with career totals of 242 receptions for 3,544 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Furrey and his wife, Koren, have a daughter, Makayla, and sons Stone and Kanon.