Apollo Wright is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

. He was previously the Special teams coordinator and

Quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

coach at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

and

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

. He has been a special teams coach for the majority of his career while coaching at the FCS and FBS levels of college football.

Coaching career

After Wright's playing career ended, he was the assistant defensive backs coach at La Salle in 1998. He spent the spring of 1999 as

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, before re-joining the La Salle staff as a full-time assistant coaching the defensive backs and assisting with special teams for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He then moved on to Villanova from 2001 to 2006. He was the running back coach all six seasons and added special teams coordinator to his titles for the last three seasons. From 2007 through 2012, Wright was at Florida International. From 2007 to 2009, he coordinated the special teams and coaching the cornerbacks. In 2009, he moved to the offensive side of the ball, coaching the running backs while still coordinating the special teams from 2009 to 2011. In 2012 he coached to running backs but was no longer the special teams coordinator. In 2013, Apollo Wright joined the staff at

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

as running backs coach. He held the same responsibilities in 2014. Prior to the 2015 season, Wright was made the special teams coordinator. The next year, Wright moved in to his current role as special teams coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Following the 2019 season, New Mexico Head Coach Bob Davie was fired, and Wright was not retained as a part of new head coach Marcus Arroyo's new staff. In March 2022, Wright was named the head coach at Fernandina Beach High School in Florida. In 2024, Wright was hired as the

for Morgan State.

Playing career

Apollo Wright played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Cheyney University Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth, it is the oldest of all historically black colleges and universities (HBCU ...

from 1994 to 1997, starting for two years.

Personal life

He and his wife, Melanie, have three sons. They have twins, Jayden and Michael, and the third son's name is Mason. In his two years out of coaching, 2020–2021, Wright published the Amelia/Yulee Neighbors magazine and served on the board of directors of the

Nassau County, Florida Nassau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the northeasternmost county in the state. The county seat is Fernandina Beach. The population was 90,352 at the 2020 census. Nassau County is a constituent of the Jackso ...

Chamber of Commerce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Apollo Living people American football quarterbacks Cheyney Wolves football players La Salle Explorers football coaches Wagner Seahawks football coaches Villanova Wildcats football coaches FIU Panthers football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches Morgan State Bears football coaches Year of birth missing (living people) High school football coaches in Florida