Troy Walters enters his fourth season with the Bengals in 2023 and his third as wide receivers coach. He leads a talented unit which features veteran Tyler Boyd, fourth-year pro Tee Higgins and third-year pro Ja'Marr Chase.
In 2021, those three combined for 3374 receiving yards, the most by any receiver trio in the NFL. Chase, the team's first-round draft pick, had the most receiving yards by a rookie in the Super Bowl era (1455) and 13 receiving TDs. Higgins added 74 catches for 1091 yards and six TDs, and Boyd added 67 for 828 and five TDs. In the team's run to Super Bowl LVI, Chase recorded a team postseason record with 368 receiving yards while ranking second in receptions (25).
Walters served as assistant WRs coach in 2020 and helped guide the group through a transition to rookie QB Joe Burrow, despite no in-person offseason program. He also helped oversee a rapid ascension for Higgins, Cincinnati's second-round draft pick who caught 67 passes for 908 yards and six TDs.
Before the Bengals, Walters was offensive coordinator at the University of Nebraska from 2018-19. He helped the Huskers' 2018 offense average 456.2 yards per game (No. 2 in Big 10), 71.2 yards better than in the '17 team (385.0).
From 2016-17, Walters was offensive coordinator at the University of Central Florida and helped guide the offensive-powered Knights to the greatest two-year turnaround in NCAA history. He inherited the FBS' 127th-ranked offense (268.4 yards/game) and 125th-ranked scoring offense (13.9 points/game) from 2015, but by '17 had the Knights ranked fifth in yards/game (530.5) and first in scoring (48.2). UCF finished the 2017 season with a 13-0 record that included a win over Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Walters one of five finalists for the prestigious Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.
From 2013-15, Walters served as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado, where he tutored the program's top three single-season receptions leaders and top-two receiving yardage leaders. One of his protégés, Nelson Spruce, left Colorado with 41 school records, and another, future NFL second-round pick Paul Richardson, became the first CU receiver in two nearly two decades to earn all-conference honors.
Walters spent 2012 as WRs coach at North Carolina State, where he helped the Wolfpack rank 18th nationally in receiving yards per game, and helped two players break the 50-catch mark.
From 2010-11, Walters served as wide receivers coach at Texas A&M, where he worked alongside current Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, who at the time was the Aggies' TEs coach. While at A&M, he helped Aggies WR Ryan Swope set school records for catches (89) and receiving yards (1207).
Walters broke into coaching at Indiana State University in 2009, where he served as offensive coordinator while also coaching quarterbacks and receivers.
Walters had a record-setting career as a receiver at Stanford University, where he played four seasons (1996-99). He ended his collegiate career as the Pac 12 conference's all-time leading receiver with 4047 yards. He set career records for receptions (244) and 100-yard receiving games (19), as well as single-season records for catches (86 in 1997) and receiving yards (1456 in '99), and a single-game record for receiving yards (278 vs. UCLA in '99). In 1999, he won the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation's top receiver.
Following Stanford, Walters was selected in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He went on to also play for the Colts, Cardinals and Lions, and over eight NFL seasons totaled 98 catches, 1135 yards, nine TDs and more than 3800 return yards.
Born Dec. 15, 1976, in Bloomington, Ind., Walters attended Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas. He holds two degrees from Stanford — a bachelor's in communications (1999) and a masters in sociology (2000). He and his wife, Josephine, have two sons, Tate and Wynn, and two daughters, Faith and Landri.
