Lead Running Back Performance: Calvin Magee vs. Fred Jackson

In the previous post, I highlighted some of the past coaching experience of Michigan’s current quarterback coach, Rod Smith. I wanted to explore this a little bit because the quarterback position is by far the most important on the field offensively and Michigan has a lot of youth at that position. Coaching up these kids requires experience, patience and a lot of knowledge.

Now I wish to take a closer look at the achievements of Michigan’s offensive coordinator, Calvin Magee, as well.

Both Magee and Smith previously held assistant coaching jobs under South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt, but were not coaches at SFU at the same time.

While Magee’s role is today offensive coordinator for the Michigan Wolverines, we need to bear in mind that for most of his career Magee's main expertise appears to have been coaching running backs and as running game coordinator at South Florida and West Virginia.

I took a brief look at Magee’s years as running backs coach and running game coordinator at both schools and found some interesting statistics about the players he coached during this period. I then wondered what that past experience might mean for Michigan’s leading ground gainer from last year, Brandon Minor, as well the future stable of Michigan running backs.

In addition, I wanted to consider Magee’s experience of coaching team leading rushers and compare that success with the past achievements of Michigan’s current running backs coach, Fred Jackson.


Year zero at South Florida: The Running of the Bulls
When Magee became the running backs coach for Jim Leavitt at South Florida in 1997, the program was in its very infancy. It must have been interesting to join a brand new college football program and be part of the team of architects that would build it brand new from the ground up. Magee coordinated the running game for South Florida for four years under then offensive coordinator Michael Canales, and as such Magee played a very important role is establishing SFU’s winning football foundation.

Magee’s first year on the job was a tough one, however. South Florida’s first ever quarterback was former South Carolina Gamecock recruit Chad Barnhardt. Canales had South Florida running a spread offense from the very beginning. It was a very young team that would finished 5-6.  Leavitt said of the first season, "This should be the worst team you ever see here at South Florida. We only have two seniors, everyone's back." The first and best tailback on the Bulls team in 1997 was Rafael Williams. Williams played running back for SFU for four years under Magee's direction, and was the leading rusher for the team three of those four years. In 1999 Dyral McMillan was the team's leading rusher.

Under Magee’s instruction, South Florida’s first running backs were good enough to be quite dangerous. They achieved high yards per carry (5.2 average ypc over four years), which is a common characteristic of more run-centric, spread option teams. It’s also what one might expect to see anyway versus competition the likes of Kentucky Weslyan, Citadel, Western Kentucky, and Cumberland! The other stat that jumps off the page is the 1999 season, when Magee coached Bulls tailback Dyral McMillan, the first ever 1,000 yard rusher for SFU with nine touchdowns. Interestingly, McMillan’s millennial rushing statistics that year coincided with the first starting dual-threat quarterback in SFU history, freshman Marquel Blackwell.br />table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}<br />.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}<br />

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