Football
- Title:
- Running Backs
- Email:
- football@central.uh.edu
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• Coach Marquel Blackwell on Twitter
Coaching Accomplishments
• Marquel Blackwell finished his second season at Houston in 2021, where he served as the Running Backs coach. Blackwell joined the program as Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach at Houston on Jan. 11, 2019 after one season as running backs coach at West Virginia.
• In his second season as running backs coach, Blackwell saw the total rushing production improve by 847 yards. Cougar running backs found the endzone 27 times in 2021 compared to 12 in 2020.
• Blackwell helped freshman phenom Alton McCaskill to a record-setting season. McCaskill’s 961 rushing yards were the most by a UH running back since 2015 while his 16 rushing touchdowns led all true freshmen across the country in 2021.
• Under Blackwell’s tutelage, McCaskill was tabbed American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year alongside second-team all-conference honors.
• In his lone season at West Virginia, Blackwell helped lead a Mountaineer offense that eclipsed the 500-yard and 40-point marks eight times during the season including 704 yards and 56 points vs. Oklahoma.
• West Virginia had three different running backs register 100-yard rushing games during the 2018 season in Leddie Brown, Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway. Brown became the first WVU true freshman to record multiple 100-yard rushing games since Noel Devine in 2007.
• Blackwell arrived in West Virginia after serving as the running backs coach at Toledo in 2016-17. He was part of a staff that led the Rockets to a 20-7 mark during his tenure, including an 11-3 record in 2017, the 2017 Mid-American Conference championship and two bowl appearances.
• Terry Swanson led the Mid-American Conference with 1,363 rushing yards and was third in the league with 14 touchdowns.
• That same season saw Shakif Symour run for 704 yards and had 12 rushing touchdowns, No. 3 in the MAC and No. 4 among all freshman in FBS. Against Bowling Green, Seymour tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns.
• In 2016, Kareem Hunt led the MAC and was No. 15 nationally with 1,475 yards while rushing for at least 100 yards eight times.
• A third-round NFL Draft selection by the Kansas City Chiefs, Hunt finished with a Toledo-record 4,945 yards, ranking No. 3 in MAC history.
• Under Blackwell’s guidance, Toledo ranked fourth in the MAC in rushing offense (195.0 ypg) in 2016. He helped four running backs to gain 200 yards or more rushing during the season. Swanson was second on the team with 600 rushing yards.
• Prior to his time at Toledo, Blackwell coached 20 high school players who earned Division I scholarships, as well as three college players who became first-round NFL draft picks.
• Blackwell’s first coaching positions came at Freedom High in New Tampa, Florida, first as the offensive coordinator in 2006, then as the head coach from 2007-08. He returned to USF from 2009-11 as a quality control coach.
• Following a year as the running backs coach at Western Kentucky in 2012, Blackwell returned to USF, as the director of player development in 2013. He returned to the high school ranks in 2014 as the offensive coordinator at Lakewood High, before spending the 2015 season at Florida as a quality control specialist, working with the Gator quarterbacks.
• As a player, Blackwell was USF's starting quarterback for four years and led the Bulls to a 30-12 mark. He threw for 9,108 yards and 57 touchdowns and had 1,235 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in his career. He set most of the Bulls' career passing records and is among the tops in rushing yards and touchdowns. The three-year captain led the Bulls to a 9-2 record as a senior before playing in the NFL with the New York Jets.
• Blackwell and his wife, Sharvettye, have three daughters, LeQuay, Shaye, and Shyeloh.
