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Colts Reportedly Will Hire Arkansas Razorbacks Jemal Singleton as RB’s Coach

By Luke Schultheis

Jan 2, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running backs coach Jemal Singleton against the Washington Huskies in the 2015 Cactus Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running backs coach Jemal Singleton against the Washington Huskies in the 2015 Cactus Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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According to Sports Illustrated’s Thayer Evans, the Indianapolis Colts will hire Arkansas special teams coordinator and running backs coach Jemal Singleton as their new running backs coach.

Prior to joining Arkansas last season, Singleton served as the running backs coach for Oklahoma State (2011-14) and earlier Air Force (2006-10), also serving as the latter’s run game coordinator in his last 4 seasons.

Jan 2, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running backs coach Jemal Singleton against the Washington Huskies in the 2015 Cactus Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running backs coach Jemal Singleton against the Washington Huskies in the 2015 Cactus Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Last season with the Razorbacks, junior running back Alex Collins rushed for 1,577 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns under Singleton’s tutelage–before foregoing his final season for the NFL Draft.

However, he’s also coached the likes of former talented, but troubled Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle with Oklahoma State, who enjoyed major production with Singleton at the helm during two seasons.

In Randle’s sophomore season (2011), he rushed for 1,216 rushing yards on 208 carries (5.8 ypc avg) and a whopping 24 rushing touchdowns. He followed that season up by rushing for 1,417 rushing yards on 274 carries (5.2 ypc avg) and 14 rushing touchdowns in his junior campaign (2012)–before declaring for the NFL Draft.

Collegiately, Singleton starred as a running back for Air Force (1995-98), where he earned All-Western Athletic Conference Honorable Mention as a senior and was a two-time captain.

With the Colts, Singleton will be charged with the task of jumpstarting the Colts continuously woeful ground game.

The Colts finished 29th in rushing, averaging 89.9 rush yards per game. Not to mention, the team only had 6 rushing touchdowns on the season which was 28th best in the NFL.

While Frank Gore was brought into solidify the Colts backfield, through no fault necessarily of his own–the veteran failed to eclipse 1,000 yards for the first time since 2010 and had his lowest yards per carry average (3.7 ypc avg) of his entire 11-year career.

As such, the Colts kept two of their least impressive franchise streaks going: One, by once again failing to have a 1,000 yard rusher since Joseph Addai did it way back in 2007. Two, by also failing to have a 100 yard rusher in a game which Vick Ballard was the last to accomplish in Week 15 of the 2012 season.

Therefore, Singleton clearly has his work cut out for him.

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