I had a chance to speak with recently hired Flanagan offensive coordinator Tyrell Conyers, who also goes by “Coach T.Y.” in the South Florida community. Conyers was formerly the offensive coordinator and receivers coach at Miramar and worked with the likes of Ryan Williams, Ivan McCartney, Stedman Bailey, and Malcolm Lewis before heading up north for one year and coaching wide receivers at Tallahassee Lincoln last season. Conyers is finishing up the school year up in Tallahassee now before he will head back home to South Florida.
Q: How does it feel to be back home and how did the opportunity to coach at Flanagan arise?
TY: It’s a great feeling to be coming back home. It’s funny because Devin Bush (Flanagan Head Coach) is practically family to me. He is a little older than me, but we grew up together. It’s a good fit to be around family again and he had been trying to get my to Flanagan since last year, but I had already accepted the job up here in Tallahassee Lincoln. The opportunity came up again this year and I had to join his program.
Q: What did you learn from your experience up in Tallahassee?
TY: I appreciate everything that Coach Yusuf Shakir (Lincoln Head Coach) and some of the other guys up there did for me. It wasn’t just about the football aspect, but growing as a man as a whole. I feel like I grew as a person and I was able to learn different coaching styles. It got me back to doing what I love to do. I love the kids that are up here because they work hard, but I got the opportunity to do what I love back home, which is call plays. Up here I was just the wide receivers coach.
Q: A lot of people think Flanagan is a program set to take that next step. What is it going to be like coaching at an uprising program?
TY: Coach Bush is doing a great job. I believe this is his 5th year there now. He started on the defensive side of the ball and this is his second year as a young head coach. You have to like the direction he is taking the program in and he felt that I could come in and help with my experience since I helped build Miramar.
Q: How much do you know about your new quarterback Ryan Stanley?
TY: It’s funny because Devin used to coach at Pasadena optimist and I would go out there to watch his kids because he would tell me to see what they had. I always wanted Ryan since when I was back at Miramar.
Q: You have always been a spread offense guy. What type of flexibility will Ryan give you?
TY: I’m just going to come in and try to do what fits Ryan the best and put out the best scheme to move the ball. He can run the ball and also make every throw as a quarterback. The kid can play the position. I remember his sophomore year when I was still at Miramar, he threw the ball 40-something times against us and completed half of his passes and I was like ‘boy, this is the kid I wanted’ and I was glad to see him doing well. I wish more big-time colleges would pay attention to him because schools that don’t take this kid will really be hurting.
Q: Talk about some of the weapons you guys have around Stanley.
TY: You’ve got the UM commit Emonee Spence, who is a great kid. I have worked Emonee out before over the summer maybe last year and we were doing some drills together. He is a big-time playmaker. We also have Robert Foy, Keavon Mitchell, and Walter Jackson. Those are the four guys that can play D-1 ball off the top of my head. I’m looking forward to working with them and helping them improve. We also have Bradley Martin, a tight end who blocks real well and can catch the ball as well. There are also a couple receivers who are about 6-3 and I am ready to check them out as well.
Q: You have had the opportunity to coach the likes of Stedman Bailey, Ivan McCartney, Malcolm Lewis, and others at the wide receiver position throughout your career. What puts Spence in the same category as those guys?
TY: Emonee is a big-time player. You want to get the ball to him in crucial situations. He just needs to continue to work on the little things to better himself. It might be releases, running routes, or reading defenses. We just need to work on the fundamentals to take his game to the next level because the kid has big-time potential for the next level.
Q: Who are some names that maybe aren’t getting as much attention that we should be keeping an eye on?
TY: I haven’t gotten to meet all the kids just yet, but Stanford Samuels III (2017) is the back-up quarterback and he just got his first offer from Temple. There is a linebacker who wears #10 and plays with Devin’s son that I really like. The secondary has a kid named Devin Gil (2016) who has great size and runs well. We have a pretty good team right now who you could look at and say has a chance to be great by December.
Q: How does it feel to be back home and how did the opportunity to coach at Flanagan arise?
TY: It’s a great feeling to be coming back home. It’s funny because Devin Bush (Flanagan Head Coach) is practically family to me. He is a little older than me, but we grew up together. It’s a good fit to be around family again and he had been trying to get my to Flanagan since last year, but I had already accepted the job up here in Tallahassee Lincoln. The opportunity came up again this year and I had to join his program.
Q: What did you learn from your experience up in Tallahassee?
TY: I appreciate everything that Coach Yusuf Shakir (Lincoln Head Coach) and some of the other guys up there did for me. It wasn’t just about the football aspect, but growing as a man as a whole. I feel like I grew as a person and I was able to learn different coaching styles. It got me back to doing what I love to do. I love the kids that are up here because they work hard, but I got the opportunity to do what I love back home, which is call plays. Up here I was just the wide receivers coach.
Q: A lot of people think Flanagan is a program set to take that next step. What is it going to be like coaching at an uprising program?
TY: Coach Bush is doing a great job. I believe this is his 5th year there now. He started on the defensive side of the ball and this is his second year as a young head coach. You have to like the direction he is taking the program in and he felt that I could come in and help with my experience since I helped build Miramar.
Q: How much do you know about your new quarterback Ryan Stanley?
TY: It’s funny because Devin used to coach at Pasadena optimist and I would go out there to watch his kids because he would tell me to see what they had. I always wanted Ryan since when I was back at Miramar.
Q: You have always been a spread offense guy. What type of flexibility will Ryan give you?
TY: I’m just going to come in and try to do what fits Ryan the best and put out the best scheme to move the ball. He can run the ball and also make every throw as a quarterback. The kid can play the position. I remember his sophomore year when I was still at Miramar, he threw the ball 40-something times against us and completed half of his passes and I was like ‘boy, this is the kid I wanted’ and I was glad to see him doing well. I wish more big-time colleges would pay attention to him because schools that don’t take this kid will really be hurting.
Q: Talk about some of the weapons you guys have around Stanley.
TY: You’ve got the UM commit Emonee Spence, who is a great kid. I have worked Emonee out before over the summer maybe last year and we were doing some drills together. He is a big-time playmaker. We also have Robert Foy, Keavon Mitchell, and Walter Jackson. Those are the four guys that can play D-1 ball off the top of my head. I’m looking forward to working with them and helping them improve. We also have Bradley Martin, a tight end who blocks real well and can catch the ball as well. There are also a couple receivers who are about 6-3 and I am ready to check them out as well.
Q: You have had the opportunity to coach the likes of Stedman Bailey, Ivan McCartney, Malcolm Lewis, and others at the wide receiver position throughout your career. What puts Spence in the same category as those guys?
TY: Emonee is a big-time player. You want to get the ball to him in crucial situations. He just needs to continue to work on the little things to better himself. It might be releases, running routes, or reading defenses. We just need to work on the fundamentals to take his game to the next level because the kid has big-time potential for the next level.
Q: Who are some names that maybe aren’t getting as much attention that we should be keeping an eye on?
TY: I haven’t gotten to meet all the kids just yet, but Stanford Samuels III (2017) is the back-up quarterback and he just got his first offer from Temple. There is a linebacker who wears #10 and plays with Devin’s son that I really like. The secondary has a kid named Devin Gil (2016) who has great size and runs well. We have a pretty good team right now who you could look at and say has a chance to be great by December.
