Vallejo High School graduate Rashad Ross knows a lot about speed, having excelled at football as a wide receiver and a sprinter in track and field at Arizona State before showing off his talents for eight teams in the NFL.
But his quickest action may have come when he was asked whether he’d like to return home and be the head flag football coach at Vallejo High.
“I feel like this is my purpose,” Ross told the Times-Herald on Saturday. “To teach kids about the game in flag football. Not just boys, but girls, too.”
Ross’ prep career is better highlighted by his work in track and field. During his senior year, he qualified for the CIF State Track and Field championships in the 200 and 400. He ran 21.22 seconds in the 200 and 49.39 in the 400 in the Sac-Joaquin Section’s final meet. Jesuit’s Tom Blocker beat him in the 400, and Ross beat Blocker in the 200.
He finished his sophomore year at Butte Junior College with 368 receiving yards and 180 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. He parlayed that into a scholarship for Arizona State, playing for head coach Dennis Erickson.
Ross had several top games with the Sun Devils, catching the eyes of NFL scouts at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park, where he caught four passes for 139 yards, scoring three touchdowns in a 62-28 win over Navy.
NFL wide receiver/kick returner Rashad Ross talks to a friend Saturday as they make their way into the Vallejo Sports Hall of Fame at the Dan Foley Cultural Center in Vallejo. – CHRIS RILEY — TIMES-HERALD
It took a few more years, but Ross finally had his breakout season in the NFL with the Washington Redskins in 2015. He scored three touchdowns and collected 684 return yards on kicks, ranking him sixth in the NFL. He also had eight receptions for 184 yards.
On Thursday Night Football before a national audience, he returned a kickoff 101 yards to the end zone in the final minutes of Washington’s 32-21 loss to the New York Giants.
He was inducted into the Vallejo Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Now he wants to help others achieve their own dreams.
“I was going to these recreation league games and working with Ryan and Ken Sarna in the Coach Sarna League and helping out on Wednesdays,” Ross said. “I was helping out the 10U girls team, and I started to see a lot of potential with these girls. I thought, ‘Maybe I can make this team really good.’ Ever since then I’ve been hooked on the sport and helping out.”
Ross was considering coaching flag football in Benicia when Vallejo High School Athletic Director Josh Ramos got involved.
“I was over at Vallejo visiting Mikey (Mike Wilson III), and Ramos heard about what I was doing and said, ‘Why don’t you just coach for us (Vallejo)? We don’t even have to interview you because we know you and we know you’re good for the job.’ I told Josh I was still going to take the interview and see how it went,” Ross said. “The interview went well, but in the end they could only offer me a junior varsity job, and Vallejo was offering the varsity spot.”
Ross said he was “all in” after that.
Washington Redskins wide receiver Maurice Harris (13) and wide receiver Rashad Ross (19) celebrate Friday after Ross’ touchdown during a preseason football game against the New York Jets. Ross is a Vallejo High grad. – Nick Wass — Associated Press
“It feels good to be back here,” Ross said. “These girls love to listen and respect the coaches. We have a young team, only two seniors of about 20 players. A few players have heard about me playing in the NFL before I started coaching them, and of course the Coach Sarna League always boosted me up. So the whole team knows about me due to Instagram and other ways, and I think they respect me a little more due to that.”
Ross, still also the wide receivers coach at Diablo Valley College, says it’s been a pleasure to coach boys, but it’s different coaching with girls.
“I think they’re sometimes smarter and hungrier,” Ross said. “Besides having an occasional attitude, they are really good and take everything in. I have one girl who wants to be a quarterback, and she’s asked me a ton of questions on how to get better. I love helping out.”
Vallejo’s first flag football game was originally scheduled for this Monday against Jesse Bethel, but Ross has rescheduled that game to later in the year so the team can improve before the two rivals meet up. Now Vallejo has a scrimmage Monday against Mare Island Tech before a regular season matchup on Wednesday against Kennedy.
“We need to win,” Ross said. “Not everything is going to work all the time, but I want to have this team do very well. I’m going to scout other teams and watch how we can beat their players. We’re going to get better all the time.”