After the Duke football program lost its former running backs coach, Chris Foster, to the University of Florida, it quickly pivoted and brought in Rodney Freeman, who had previously been the running backs coach at East Carolina.
Freeman spent two seasons with the Pirates after spending one year in the same position at Utah State. In Foster’s first season with ECU, it totaled 2,241 yards on the ground to go along with 23 touchdowns. In 2025, the Pirates ranked fifth in the American Conference in rushing touchdowns (31), seventh in rushing yards per game (176.3), and eighth in total rushing yards (2,292).
Duke Run Game Was Elite in 2025
In his lone year with the program, Foster completely turned around a Duke run game that was lackluster in 2024. That season, the Blue Devils finished 16th in the ACC in total rushing yards (1,202) and rushing yards per game (92.5), while finishing 15th in rushing touchdowns (13).
In 2025 under Foster, the Blue Devils were eighth in the conference in total rushing yards (1,934), ninth in average yards per game (138.1), and sixth in total touchdowns (26).
After coming over from Greenville, NC, Freeman will now have a chance to work with rising sophomore running back Nate Sheppard, who emerged as one of the best running backs in the ACC…