Rich Rodriguez Announces Larry Porter as Running Backs Coach

West Virginia University football head coach Rich Rodriguez announced the addition of Larry Porter to the coaching staff as the running backs coach.

“Larry Porter brings years of successful experience to West Virginia and is a highly respected coach and recruiter,” Rodriguez said. “His ability to develop talent and the impact he will make on our running backs will be a huge asset.”

Porter has nearly three decades of experience coaching running backs at the collegiate level, primarily within Power Four conferences. He spent the last four seasons serving under Mack Brown at North Carolina as the running backs coach, while assisting in special teams the first two seasons and took over the role in the back end of the tenure.

Last season, North Caronia had No. 16 rushing attack in Power Four, tied for No. 23 in scoring offense and No. 30 in total offense and were led by two-time All-American and two-time Doak Walker Award finalist running back Omarion Hampton, who finished as the second-leading rusher in Power Four (1,660 yards, 15 touchdowns). In 2023, he ran for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaged 5.9 yards per carry and helped UNC rank No. 11 among Power Four schools in rushing offense.

Porter also had stints at Auburn from 2017-20 (special teams coordinator/tight ends/H-backs), special teams coordinator and running backs coach at UNC (2014-16), running backs coach at Texas (2013), Arizona State (2012), LSU (2005-09), Oklahoma State (2002-04), Arkansas State (1999-01) and Tennessee-Martin (1998) and was the head coach at Memphis (2010-11).

In 2016, Porter coached All-ACC running backs Elijah Hood and T.J. Logan, who combined to rush for 1,508 yards and 15 touchdowns. Hood (Oakland) and Logan (Arizona) were selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. An All-ACC performer, Hood rushed for 1,463 yards and 17 touchdowns. Under Porter’s guidance in 2015, Carolina’s running game ranked No. 18 nationally, averaging 224.4 yards per game. That was the highest average on the ground at UNC since 1994. As an offense, the Tar Heels finished No. 9 nationally and set a then-school record at 40.7 points per game.

Porter developed two 1,000-yard rushers at LSU in Jacob Hester (2007) and Charles Scott (2008) and produced six NFL Draft selections (Hester, Joseph Addai, Quinn Johnson, Charles Scott, Trindon Holliday, Stevan Ridley). He coached 1,000-yard rushers for three straight seasons while at Oklahoma State. In 2004, Vernand Morency earned All-Big 12 honors after rushing for 1,474 yards and 12 touchdowns. A year earlier, Tatum Bell earned first team All-Big 12 honors with 1,286 yards and 16 touchdowns. Morency was a third-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2005 and Bell was a second-round pick by the Denver Broncos in the 2004 NFL Draft.

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