Lee Marks Rumored to be Oregon State's Next RB Coach

The former Washington associate head coach joins the Beavers after two seasons at Memphis
Nov 29, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Oregon State Beavers helmet sits during a game against the Washington State Cougars in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images
Nov 29, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Oregon State Beavers helmet sits during a game against the Washington State Cougars in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images | James Snook-Imagn Images

Oregon State football appears poised to make another strong hire to join JaMarcus Shephard's staff and be the Beavers' next running backs coach.

Lee Marks, who is currently the halfbacks coach for the Memphis Tigers, is reportedly set to join the OSU coaching staff, along with numerous other hires this week.

Kirk Barron (offensive line), James Finley (wide receivers), Cort Dennison (linebackers), Lance Guidry (defensive coordinator), and Mitch Dahlen (offensive coordinator) were all also announced as additions to the staff this week.


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Marks, who was a two-time all-WAC running back for Boise State in the early 2000s, has an extensive coaching resume in college football. Most notable is his time with Kalen DeBoer at UW, where he served as both an assistant head coach and running backs coach on a Husky team that went 14-1 and reached the national championship before losing to Michigan. In that 2023 season, Washington halfback Dillon Johnson rushed for over 1,100 yards and 16 touchdowns.


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Most recently, Marks has served as the RBs coach and assistant HC for Memphis, a position that he started in 2024. The Memphis offense averaged 174.1 rushing yards per game in 2024 and 186.1 rushing yards per game in 2025, finishing in the top half of the American Athletic Conference in both seasons. In 2024, Memphis' Mario Anderson Jr. scored 18 rushing touchdowns, leading all halfbacks in the American.

Prior to his time at Memphis and UW, he coached alongside of DeBoer at Fresno State, and won the New Mexico Bowl as the Bulldogs' interim head coach in 2021.

As a player, Marks wracked up over 1,700 rushing yards and eight TDs in the 2004 and 2005 seasons for the Boise State Broncos.


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Ben Pahl
BEN PAHL

Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.