Kentucky hires new running backs coach and special teams coordinator from Bengals
Another NFL assistant is joining Kentucky’s football program.
Jemal Singleton, who’s spent the last two seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and the last five total in the league, has been hired as UK’s running backs coach and special teams coordinator, head coach Mark Stoops announced through a news release from the school on Thursday.
Singleton coached with current UK defensive coordinator Brad White in Cincinnati from 2016-2017 before joining the Oakland Raiders for one season in 2018. He spent 13 years in the college ranks before coaching in the NFL; he and White also overlapped for one season at the Air Force Academy.
“We are excited to welcome Jemal Singleton to our program,” Stoops said in the release. “He came highly recommended from Brad White, who I highly respect, as they worked together in the NFL. After I did the research on him, saw his background, and visited with him, it was a no-brainer. He has also worked in the same system as (new offensive coordinator) Liam Coen and he will be a great fit.”
Singleton isn’t a stranger to the Southeastern Conference: his final college job was as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Arkansas under Bret Bielema in 2015. He coached running backs at Oklahoma State for four seasons prior to that, and was an assistant at Air Force, his alma mater, from 2003-2010.
He’s resided in northern Kentucky the last two years and has grown more familiar with UK’s program while living within the state. He attended the Wildcats’ Pro Day in 2019, ahead of the draft that saw running back Benny Snell selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was impressed by UK’s facilities.
“We are so excited to be a part of the Big Blue Nation,” Singleton said in the release. “My wife and daughter are horse people and we all know Lexington is a great place for that but I had a chance to come to the NFL Pro Day last year and walk around the facility. I was very impressed with everything Kentucky football has done for their players. Everything is first class. Coach Stoops has really built something special at Kentucky.”
Singleton totaled 941 career rushing yards and four touchdowns on 175 carries as a player at Air Force, where he helped the Falcons win 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
He inherits a running back room that doesn’t lack for production. Junior-to-be Chris Rodriguez led the the team in rushing (785 yards) and scoring (11 touchdowns) in nine games while fellow junior-to-be Kavosiey Smoke finished the year with 229 yards and one score on just 48 carries after missing four games due to injury. Reserves Travis Tisdale and Jutahn McClain also saw action in 2020.
Singleton values running backs who are quick in short areas and can make guys miss, “whether it’s run him over or shake him.”
“Probably one of the things that I love the most about this position is it comes in so many sizes and shapes,” Singleton said during a media availability later Thursday. “I don’t care if you’re 5-9, I don’t care if you’re 6-1. You can be an effective running back and be very explosive and do a lot of those things. ... I look for football ability, football movement.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 9:56 AM.
