Houston native Ashton Washington becomes first African American woman on Illini football staff
HOUSTON (BVM) — In May, the University of Illinois made a huge splash by hiring a staff member from the Houston Roughnecks, the former XFL team. With the April shutdown of the XFL, most of the league’s staff was jobless and looking for new career paths.
One of those people happens to be Ashton Washington, who served as a business and game day operation specialist for the team.
Welcome, @Ash3Washington, our new Director of High School Relations!#Illini 🔶🔷https://t.co/IgccFDA5FP
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) May 19, 2020
University of Illinois head football coach Lovie Smith said in February that a female will walk through the hallways soon enough. Sure enough, Ashton Washington is the first-ever female to join the Fighting Illini football program.
Washington was born in Mississippi and from the very start she was introduced to the world of sports. Her grandfather coached the women’s basketball team and the baseball team at Mary Holmes College which halted operations in 2005.
“My grandfather would bring me along, and I guess from then on I was hooked,” Washington said.
Washington decided that a career in the sports world would best suit her and that is exactly what she pursued. Her first break came when she was made director of operations/recruiting for The Old Coach, a media outlet dedicated to covering high school football in Texas. While she was there, Washington headed up the social media team and built a strong reputation for herself and the company.
“It wasn’t difficult to balance due to it being fun,” Washington said. “It was quite interesting for my peers due to them doing what normal college students do and me leaving every weekend headed to a football event whether in-state or out of the state.”
In addition to working with the social media team, Washington pursued mass communication at Huston-Tillotson University. In 2019, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in her selected field.
The Roughnecks hired her in December, shortly after graduation.
With the league just starting, Washington had to play the waiting game going through the hiring process. But because of her talent and the fact that she was from Houston, Washington was offered the job. She managed business operations, logistics, and game day operations while serving as the team’s primary contact to the director of football operations.
“Overall it was a team effort but a learning experience for being a one-woman show on game days, whether on the field or off the task kept coming,” Washington said. “In better terms – the grind never stopped.”
As the Roughnecks rolled through their competition, COVID-19 struck the United States hard and the XFL was forced to shut down operations. This put others like Washington out of a job. Luckily for her, her hard work and dedication to the sport had put her on the radar.
Coach Smith is one of the more recognizable football coaches in the sport today. Following a successful year at Illinois this past season, Smith is quickly shooting up to the top of the ranks of the Power Five schools. With additions like Washington and others, Smith is changing the culture of a sport that could benefit from a new perspective.
“I had never met coach Smith before,” Washington said. “He had heard about me and in the one-on-one interview I was nervous. It’s the legendary coach, Lovie Smith.”
Washington’s official title will be director of high school relations. Another way to look at this hiring is to view her as a scout. She will be working hand-in-hand with director of recruiting, Patrick Embleton.
“It has been nonstop meetings,” Washington said.
As someone who’s full of energy who can bring a unique perspective to how teams engage with recruits around the country, Washington is ready to make her mark on America’s most popular sport.
