James D. Runnels (born June 19, 1984) 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 with ...

coach and former

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

who is the co-

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

and running backs coach for the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

from 2002 to 2005. He played in 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) for 4 seasons from 2006 to 2009, with his longest tenue as a player with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. Runnels was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma. He attended high school at

Carl Albert High School The Mid-Del School District is a school district based in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. It serves all of Midwest City and Del City, as well as a portion of Oklahoma City. As of 2007, the school district served more than 14,500 K-12 studen ...

in Midwest City. After graduation from high school in 2002, he enrolled at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

and played running back for the Sooners. The

selected Runnels in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played 4 seasons as a fullback in the NFL, with the Chicago from 2006 to 2007, the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in 2008 and the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

from 2008 to 2009. He also played and a season in the United Football League (UFL) with the Florida Tuskers.

Early years

Runnels attended Carl Albert High School in Midwest City where he played football, mostly at

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, but he also played wide receiver,

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He helped lead Carl Albert to three Oklahoma state championships in class 5A. He was a consensus all state player and set school records for career receiving yards (1,391), career catches (67) and career receiving

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

(17). Runnels finished 3rd in state in 4A Shotput. Runnels graduated from Carl Albert in 2002.

College career

Runnels attended the University of Oklahoma. In 53 games at Oklahoma, Runnels started 18 times. He carried twice for five yards and caught 51 passes for 450 yards (8.8 avg) and five touchdowns. In his agility tests he ran a 4.52 in the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

ed 225 pounds 28 times, had a 35-inch

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

, a 10'0" broad jump, ran a 4.22 in the

20-yard shuttle The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

, and a 7.0 in the

3 cone drill The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by American football players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by Scout (sport), scouts. It is most commonly seen at the N ...

Professional career

Chicago Bears

He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He spent most of his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season on the bench, but saw playtime towards the end of the season, when starting fullback

Jason McKie Jason A. McKie (born May 22, 1980 in Gulf Breeze, Florida) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at Te ...

injured his ankle. Although Runnels was the Bears' second fullback on the depth chart, the Bears often used the more experienced third-string

Gabe Reid Gabriel "Gabe" Reid (born May 28, 1977) is a former American football tight end for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League. He was signed as an undrafted free agent out of BYU. Football career Reid played high school football for Le ...

instead. The Bears waived/injured Runnels on June 11, 2007, and he spent the season on injured reserve. He was waived by the team on July 24, 2008.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On August 16, 2008, Runnels signed with the

after the team released

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

Luke Petitgout Lucas George Petitgout (born June 16, 1976) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Giants 19th overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. Petitgout played college football at ...

. He was released by the team four days later.

Cincinnati Bengals

Runnels was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

on October 29, 2008. He was released on November 11 when the team re-signed

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Geoffrey Pope. Runnels was re-signed to a future contract on December 29, 2008. He was waived on August 10, 2009. His release was profiled on the season premiere of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series '' Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals''.

Coaching career

On March 17, 2022, it was announced that Runnels was hired as the Co-Offensive coordinator/Running backs coach of the

of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Runnels, Jd 1984 births Living people American football fullbacks Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Florida Tuskers players Oklahoma Sooners football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players People from Midwest City, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Houston Gamblers (2022) coaches