Completed Event: Football versus Illinois State on August 30, 2025 , Win , 35, to, 3
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Football
35
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3
University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Hires DeMarco Murray as Running Backs Coach
January 27, 2020 | Football
NORMAN — Oklahoma head football coach Lincoln Riley announced Monday that DeMarco Murray, OU's career leader in all-purpose yards and career touchdowns and the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, has been hired as the Sooners' running backs coach.
Murray returns to Norman after spending the 2019 season as running backs coach at Arizona. It was his first season as a coach following a decorated seven-year NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans, and a one-year stint as a TV analyst in the broadcast booth with FOX Sports.
"This is a really exciting day, being able to welcome one of our program's all-time best players back to Norman," said Riley, who has led OU to three Big 12 titles and three College Football Playoff appearances in his three years as OU head coach. "DeMarco had a tremendous playing career both at OU and in the NFL and has a passion for coaching and helping young men grow as players and people. He's got an incredibly bright coaching future and will be an outstanding mentor to our players. I don't think there's anyone better to lead our running backs. Everyone in our program is excited to have DeMarco, his wife Heidi and their children as part of our family."
Murray starred at Oklahoma from the 2007 through 2010 seasons when the Sooners won 43 games, three Big 12 championships and a pair of bowl games under former head coach Bob Stoops. Murray played a pivotal role in the 2008 season in helping OU reach the BCS National Championship Game, which he had to miss due to injury. In his 13 games that season he rushed for 1,002 yards and 14 touchdowns and caught 31 passes for 395 yards and four more scores en route to first-team All-Big 12 honors. He was also a first-team All-Big 12 pick in 2010 when he rushed for career highs of 1,214 yards and 15 TDs and caught 71 passes for 594 yards and five scores.
"This is a really exciting day, being able to welcome one of our program's all-time best players back to Norman."
- Lincoln Riley
In addition to his OU career records for all-purpose yards (6,718; 3,685 rushing, 1,571 receiving, 1,462 return) and touchdowns scored (65), Murray is the school's all-time leader in kickoff return average (27.6 yards). He ranks second in OU history in rushing attempts (759) and kick return yards (1,462), third in rushing touchdowns (50), seventh in rushing yards and eighth in 100-yard-rushing games (13).
In terms of single-season performances, Murray ranks second (2,171 in 2008) and fifth (2,057 in 2010) on OU's all-purpose-yards chart, and second in kick return yards (774 in 2008). His 196 kick return yards against Oklahoma State in 2008 stand as the second most in single-game school history.
"This is very surreal," said the 31-year-old Murray on Monday. "Obviously I never thought I'd be back coaching at the place where it all started for me. Having the opportunity to come back and be among great coaches and be with some of the people I grew up with is exciting. I'm thankful for the opportunity Coach Riley is giving me and I'm looking forward to being back home.
"Football has always been a passion of mine. I've been fortunate to have had a lot of coaches and friends work with me throughout my career and give me great tools, and I feel like it's only right to give back to young student-athletes. And I love competing at a high level, so the opportunity to come back to coach was important to me. I think I bring the experience of playing at a high level and being in these kids' shoes not 20 or 30 years ago, but just 10 years ago. I think I bring the ability to know offense, know ball and know what it takes from a mental, physical and emotional standpoint to get to the next level. At Oklahoma, so many kids are going to have that opportunity and that's what I'm going to help them strive to achieve."
Selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Murray rushed for 7,174 yards and 49 touchdowns during his professional career, and racked up 2,165 receiving yards and six more scores. In addition to his 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year honor, he was named a Pro Bowl selection in 2013, 2014 and 2016 and an All-Pro in 2014.
Murray ran for 897 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his rookie season of 2011 and followed with 663 rushing yards and four TDs in 2012. He broke out in 2013 by running for 1,121 yards and nine scores in his 14 games, all starts. His most productive professional season came in 2014 when he rushed for league highs of 1,845 yards (115.3 per game) and 13 TDs, while adding 416 receiving yards. His 2,261 yards from scrimmage were the 12th most in NFL single-season history at the time.
Murray played for Philadelphia in 2015, finishing with 702 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, before heading to Tennessee for his final two seasons where he started all 31 of his contests. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark (1,287) for a third time and ran for nine TDs in 2016. In his final campaign, he amassed 659 rushing yards and six more rushing scores.
Murray also spoke Monday about the opportunity Arizona head coach and former OU assistant coach Kevin Sumlin gave him last year to break into coaching.
"Coach Sumlin gave me that first chance to coach and I appreciate everything he's done for me," said Murray. "I've known him dating back to when I was 18 or 19 years old at OU. He's always been a great friend of mine and we stayed in constant communication after he left OU and throughout our careers. He's a great guy who always creates a fun environment for his staff and players. I appreciate him taking a chance on me and I learned a lot from him last year."
From Las Vegas, Murray was rated by ESPN as the No. 1 running back in the country coming out of Bishop Gorman High School in 2006. Also a highly regarded basketball player, he helped Bishop Gorman to a state title on the hardwood in 2005.
Murray graduated from OU in 2010 with a degree in communication and a minor in African-American studies. He and his wife Heidi have a 6-year-old daughter, Savanna, and a 4-year-old son, Parker.
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