Curtis Modkins (born November 15, 1970) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the current

running backs A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

coach and run game coordinator for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). A 25-year coaching veteran, Modkins has spent the last 12 years in the NFL as an offensive coordinator or running backs coach. He has worked with four different 1,000-yard rushers during that span: C. J. Spiller with Buffalo in 2012,

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

with Detroit in 2013, Jordan Howard with Chicago in 2017 and

Phillip Lindsay Phillip Lindsay (born July 24, 1994) is an American football running back who is a free agent. Lindsay was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and attended South High School in Denver where he became the school's all-time le ...

with Denver in 2018-19.

Playing career

Modkins attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

(TCU), where he was a three-year starting running back for the

TCU Horned Frogs football The TCU Horned Frogs football team represents Texas Christian University (TCU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Horned Frogs play their home games in Amon G. Carter Stadium, which is located on the ...

team. He rushed for 2,763 yards and caught 54 passes during his college career, and was a two-time all-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

selection.

Coaching career

College years

Modkins began his coaching career as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

at his alma mater, TCU in 1995. He was promoted to the position of secondary coach in 1996 and then coached the Horned Frogs' tight ends in 1997. Modkins spent the next four seasons coaching cornerbacks at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

before arriving at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Modkins spent time learning under head coach

Chan Gailey Thomas Chandler Gailey Jr. (born January 5, 1952) is a former American football coach. Most recently in 2020, he was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Gailey has previously served as the hea ...

(while they were at

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

). After Gailey went to

to become its next head coach, Modkins followed, becoming the coach of both running backs and

defensive backs In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

NFL

When Gailey was fired from Georgia Tech in 2007, Modkins went with him to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

, to coach running backs. Gailey became the Chiefs' offensive coordinator. Modkins left his spot with the Chiefs to coach the same position for the Arizona Cardinals in 2009. In 2010, Modkins became the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. As offensive coordinator for Buffalo from 2010-12, Modkins directed a unit in which quarterback

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

topped 3,000 passing yards each season and wide receiver

Stevie Johnson Steven John Johnson Jr. (born July 22, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Johnson was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draf ...

reached the 1,000-yard mark in each season. Modkins was dismissed, along with the entire Bills coaching staff, on December 31, 2012. On January 14, 2013, Modkins was hired as the running backs coach of the Detroit Lions. On January 22, 2016, Modkins was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as their new offensive coordinator. Modkins helped the team finish fourth in the NFL in rushing offense (126.2) and ranked second in the NFL in red zone efficiency (68.2%). Modkins joined the Chicago Bears as their running backs coach in 2017. Modkins helped Jordan Howard rank sixth in the NFL with 1,122 rushing yards while totaling five 100-yard rushing games. Modkins reached an agreement with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

on January 4, 2018 to be their new RB coach. Modkins took a leave of absence from the team on October 17, 2020, after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, and returned to the team by October 28. Modkins was relived of his duties after the firing of head coach

Vic Fangio Victor Mick Fangio (born August 22, 1958) is an American football coach who is the defensive consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Fangio most recently served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the ...

. Modkins was hiring by

Kevin O'Connell (American football) Kevin William O'Connell (born May 25, 1985), nicknamed "KOC", is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). O'Connell played quarterback at San Diego Sta ...

to be the new Running Backs coach for the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modkins, Curtis Living people 1970 births American football running backs Arizona Cardinals coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Chicago Bears coaches Detroit Lions coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches National Football League offensive coordinators New Mexico Lobos football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches TCU Horned Frogs football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football players People from Marlin, Texas Minnesota Vikings coaches