April 1, 2008

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Former professional all-star wide receiver and current Lummi Nation High School head football coach Jim Sandusky will serve as an assistant coach at Western Washington University during its spring football workouts.

The 46-year-old Sandusky played 12 years in the Canadian Football League with the British Columbia Lions and the Edmonton Eskimos, and two years in the National Football League with the Seattle Seahawks.

At Western, Sandusky will work with the wide receivers. Spring drills begin Saturday at Viking Field on the WWU campus.

During his CFL career, Sandusky caught 586 passes for 9,737 yards and 69 touchdowns. He was a five-time all-star and played on two Grey Cup champions

Sandusky earned All-America honors at three different colleges, including Walla Walla CC, University of Nevada Las Vegas and San Diego State University.

At UNLV he led the nation in receiving, catching the game-winning touchdown in the waning minutes of a huge upset over powerhouse Brigham Young University.

At San Diego State, Sandusky led the country in punt return average. He was the MVP in two bowl games in 1983, the Hula Bowl and the Japan Bowl.

An all-state football player at Othello High School, Sandusky is a member of the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 2003.

Sandusky has been the director of athletics and football coach at Lummi since 2003. His Blackhawk teams have posted a 45-13 record, reaching the Class 1B state championship game in 2006 and the semifinals in 2005 and 2007.