As he begins his fifth season as Northwestern State’s wide receivers coach, Alvin Slaughter has developed an All-American lineage of Demon pass catchers.
Quan Shorts gave Slaughter’s receivers room an All-American for the second straight season, becoming the first Demon to catch 100 passes in a season en route to third-team All-American honors.
Shorts’ stellar senior season, which included 11 touchdown grabs – second most in school single-season history, helped the Demon offense establish a new school benchmark for single-season passing yards for a second straight season.
Prior to Slaughter’s arrival in Natchitoches, no Demon receiver had earned All-American honors at the position (wide receiver Ed Eagan was an all-purpose selection in 2014) and NSU had not produced an All-American returner since 2000. In his first four seasons, Slaughter has had a hand in three All-American selections – Shorts and fellow wide receiver Jazz Ferguson and kick returner Myles Ward.
Additionally, Slaughter’s wide receivers own five of the school’s top-10 seasons in terms of receptions, a share of or the top three outright seasons of touchdown catches and the two highest totals of 100-yard games. Shorts finished his two-year NSU career ranked second in school history in receptions despite playing just 21 games as a Demon.
Slaughter’s third group of NSU pass catchers may have been his most talented yet, and it showed in the school record book.
Slaughter tutored Ferguson, a record-breaking standout who became the first receiver in school history to eclipse 1,000 yards in a single season. Ferguson caught 66 passes, second most in school history, gained 1,117 yards and set a school record with 13 scoring grabs, earning the first invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine for a Demon since 2015. Ferguson signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in April.
The 2018 Demons were far from a one-man receiving show.
In addition to Ferguson, who was named to three All-American teams and was the Southland Conference and All-Louisiana Offensive Player of the Year, Shorts (56, 4th) and Jaylen Watson (51, 7th) had top-10 season seasons in terms of catches.
Watson’s 10 touchdown catches are tied for third in a single season in school history. Watson’s 761 yards placed him sixth in school single-season history.
Additionally, Slaughter was instrumental in the development of Bryson Bourque, who went from walk-on to a key member of the wide receiver rotation.
Slaughter’s golden touch extended to special teams where he helped develop return specialist Ward, who earned honorable mention Freshman All-American honors from HERO Sports.
Known for producing receivers with the skills to reach the professional level, Slaughter molded a relatively inexperienced receiving corps into a solid unit in 2017. Folding in junior college transfers Watson and Marquisian Chapman with returners Cameron Lazare and Bobby Chan-Chan, Slaughter helped the Demons passing game increase its output by more than 30 yards per game.
Lazare, two years removed from not catching a pass, became the team’s leading receiver, snaring 36 balls while Watson became a true big-play threat, averaging 40 yards on his four touchdown catches.
Slaughter’s penchant for molding professional football talent continued during his first season on the Northwestern State staff. That skill set was enhanced in the summer of 2018 when Slaughter served an internship with the Cleveland Browns.
Slaughter was instrumental in the development of young receivers Chan-Chan and Lazare, each of whom enjoyed breakout seasons in 2016. Chan-Chan tied senior Shakeir Ryan for the team lead in receptions with 32. After two seasons without a catch, Lazare recorded 24 catches and finished the season with a seven-catch, 132-yard performance at Stephen F. Austin, the first 100-yard game of his career.
Ryan, meanwhile, became the 11th of Slaughter’s former players to reach the NFL when he signed a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams in April 2017.
Slaughter, who spent the 2012-15 seasons on the LSU staff, has coached at the high school and college levels while also completing the NFL’s prestigious Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Internship with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
While at LSU, Slaughter assisted the Tigers wide receivers and special teams groups. His work with the LSU receivers included developing and executing practice scripts, planning and directing drills, charting catches, drops and other offensive plays.
His special teams experience in Baton Rouge involved working primarily with the Tigers kickers and punters.
Slaughter came to college coaching after a successful nine-year run at Monsignor Pace High School in Miami, including five seasons as the Spartans head coach.
He led the Spartans to district championships in 2007, 2008 and 2010 and a 2008 regional championship. Slaughter’s head coaching experience gave him insight into fundraising and overseeing all aspects of a program, including scheduling, instruction and organization. In addition to his coaching career, Slaughter was the school’s assistant dean of discipline.
Slaughter spent his first four seasons at Pace as the offensive coordinator, helping the Spartans win the 2003 Florida state title and producing the top offensive in Dade County in 2004 and 2005.
Twenty-six of Slaughter’s high school student-athletes signed Division I scholarships.
Slaughter has coached in several all-star games, including the Under Armour All-American Game as a guest coach, the Aloha Prep Bowl and the All-Dade All-Star Game for which he was a head coach.
He began his coaching career as the wide receivers and tight ends coach at Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 1999, just months after graduating from Clarion with a bachelor’s degree in communication.
Slaughter is married to Dani and the couple has two daughters, Kaelyn and Kira.
