Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford

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Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford was named Vanderbilt’s running backs coach in January 2024.

In his first season, Muhammad-Lankford developed sophomore Sedrick Alexander into a workhorse of Vanderbilt’s rushing game and helped the Commodores reach a new level of ball security. The run game was instrumental as the Dores had their first winning season and bowl victory in over a decade.

Alexander trailed only quarterback Diego Pavia in rushing yards, going for 610 yards on 164 carries with six touchdowns. Alexander had the second-most rushing yards of any sophomore in the SEC. He was instrumental in Vandy’s win over No. 1 Alabama, the school’s first-ever win over the nation’s top-ranked team, carrying 21 times and scoring twice.

The Commodores led the SEC and ranked fifth in FBS with just three fumbles lost on the season, only one of which was by a running back. Alexander, AJ Newberry, Moni Jones and Chase Gillespie combined for 238 rushes with just the one fumble lost. Muhammad-Lankford’s running backs have lost just two fumbles over the last two seasons at Vandy and New Mexico State.

Muhammad-Lankford spent 2022-23 as part of the turnaround effort at New Mexico State, helping the Aggies to consecutive bowl games for the first time since 1960. NMSU was third in Conference USA, averaging 198.67 rushing yards per game in 2023, after running for 161.78 yards per contest in Muhammad-Lankford’s first season in 2022.

Two NMSU running backs ranked among Conference USA’s top-12 in rushing yards per game in 2023, with Star Thomas and Monte Watkins each running for better than 40 yards per game. Thomas added four rushing touchdowns.

Prior to his time in Las Cruces, Muhammad-Lankford spent three seasons coaching wide receivers at Illinois State, where he also served the last two years as co-offensive coordinator.  In his first season, 2019, the Redbirds went 10-5 and fell to eventual national champion North Dakota State in the FCS quarterfinals.

From 2016-18, Muhammad-Lankford was running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks reached the second round of the FCS playoffs in 2018, with running back Marquis Terry earning All-America honors. He was the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,229 yards and 14 touchdowns, going over 100 yards in six games. Terry ran for an OVC and school-record 311 yards against Southern Illinois.

He spent 2014-15 as a graduate assistant at Missouri, working primarily with the wide receivers after he got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Wyoming, in 2013.

Muhammad-Lankford competed at Wyoming from 2009-12, playing on both sides of the ball. He was the Cowboys’ leading rusher before suffering a season-ending injury in 2011. The next year, he led Wyoming with 106 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and four fumble recoveries at linebacker.

The St. Joseph, Missouri, native graduated from Wyoming with a degree in communications in 2013. He and his wife, Taryn, have two children, Eliyaas and Mila.