Bankins Hired To Oversee Terps Special Teams
2/18/2009 7:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 18, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Charles Bankins has been hired to run Maryland's special teams unit and oversee its tight ends, head coach Ralph Friedgen announced Wednesday.
Bankins has experience coaching offense and special teams at the collegiate and professional levels, most recently serving as an assistant at the University of Richmond, which captured the 2008 Football Championship Subdivsion (FCS) title.
He replaces Danny Pearman, who left Maryland in December to coach at his alma mater, Clemson.
During Bankins' two-year stint as Richmond's running backs coach, the Spiders had one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the country. Last season, the Spiders had the 24th-ranked offense in the nation, led by Josh Vaughan who rushed for 1,884 yards.
In 2007, the Richmond rushing attack ranked No. 12 nationally (234.6 yards per game). Tim Hightower, a fifth-round choice of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2008 NFL Draft, headlined the ground game with 1,924 rushing yards. Hightower is one of eight players coached by Bankins to reach the NFL.
Bankins also oversaw Richmond's special teams in 2008 when the Spiders ranked 27th nationally in punt returns (12.0 yards per return) and 22nd in kickoff coverage (18.0 ypr).
"Charles is very good person with a solid special teams background," Friedgen said. "He also has local ties which should help us in recruiting. He's got a diverse background, having coached different positions and in both the NFL and college. He should be a good fit and we're glad to be able to add him to the staff."
A native of Leonardtown, Md., Bankins had two stints at Hampton University (2000-04; 2006) and spent the 2005 season with the St. Louis Rams.
With Bankins mentoring the backfield, Hampton saw all-time leading rusher Montrell Coley win the 2000 Division I-AA scoring title (172 points) and lead the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 1,582 yards on the ground.
In 2004, Howard's Alonzo Coleman and Ardell Daniels became the only pair of Division I-AA running backs to each rush for more than 1,000 yards. The duo then repeated that performance a year later.
Bankins left Hampton after the 2004 season to become an assistant special teams coach with the Rams. He got his first taste of the NFL in 2002, spending the summer as a minority-coaching intern for the Green Bay Packers.
Bankins lettered all four years at running back for James Madison University, earning his bachelor's degree in 1994. He also earned a graduate degree from Eastern Kentucky where he coached wide receivers in 1997.
Bankins went on to coach wide receivers and tight ends for one season at both James Madison (1998) and Indiana (Pa.) University (1999).
