Marshall University Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Running Backs
- Email:
- mcdowellr@marshall.edu
- Phone:
- ----
Rod McDowell was named Marshall’s running backs coach by head coach Tony Gibson in January 2025.
McDowell comes to Marshall after three seasons at Jacksonville State in the same capacity.
In his last two seasons at Jacksonville State, the Gamecocks finished No. 3 in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 251 yards on the ground in 2024 and 236.7 on the ground in 2023.
The 2024 season featured running back Tre Stewart, who rushed for 1,638 yards and 25 touchdowns while averaging 117 yards per game – all of which were top-10 in FBS.
Prior to his time at Jacksonville State, McDowell served in the same role at ULM during the 2021 season. He took over a running backs unit that averaged less than 80 yards per game the season before he arrived and added over 50 yards per game to that average in his first season in 2021.
McDowell went to ULM in 2021 from his alma mater Clemson, where he spent the 2019 season as an offensive graduate assistant before serving in an offensive player development role in 2020. In his two years on the Clemson staff, he led the Tigers to a combined record of 24-3 (.889), including a 16-1 record (.941) in Atlantic Coast Conference games, back-to-back ACC Championships, consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff and No. 2 and No. 3 rankings in the final polls, respectively.
A four-year letterman from 2010-13, McDowell accounted for 1,983 career all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns. As a senior in 2013, he rushed for 1,023 yards and five TDs while earning All-ACC Third-Team honors.
A native of Sumter, South Carolina, McDowell graduated from Clemson with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2013.
