The Dallas Cowboys hired Derrick Foster as running backs coach on Brian Schottenheimer's inaugural staff. Foster has spent five seasons as an NFL RB coach and coached in the college ranks for 10 years.
In 2025 Foster mentored a running backs room that averaged 4.59 yards-per-carry, good for ninth in the NFL. It was Dallas' first time to finish inside the top-10 in rushing offense since 2021. Javonte Williams, who was Dallas' first free agent signing in 2025, became a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time in his career, setting career-highs in rushing yards (1,201), carries (252) and touchdowns (11). Williams' 1,201 rushing yards were the second-most by a Cowboy in his first season with the team, trailing only Ezekiel Elliott (1,631 in 2016). Williams' 11 rushing touchdowns tied for the fourth-most by a Cowboy in his first season with the team.
Foster coached running backs for the New Orleans Saints in 2024, tutoring a group that included Alvin Kamara - an explosive back who ranked sixth in the NFL with 106.6 scrimmage yards-per-game and ranked second among all running backs with 543 receiving yards on the year. Kamara totaled 950 yards on the ground, leading the Saints in rushing for the seventh consecutive season.
Prior to his time in New Orleans, Foster worked for three years as the running backs coach for the LA Chargers (2021-23), guiding one of the most explosive rushers in the league during that span. Under the direction of Foster, Austin Ekeler totaled 44 regular season scrimmage touchdowns (20 in 2021, 18 in 2022 and six in 2023), ranking first in the NFL over that span. Ekeler's 228 receptions for 1,805 yards with 14 touchdowns led NFL running backs in catches and receiving yardage over the three-season span under Foster, while tying for first in touchdown grabs.
In 2023, despite missing three games with an ankle injury, Ekeler led the Chargers in rushing for the fourth consecutive season with 628 yards and ran for a club-best five scores.
Ekeler set single-season career-highs in 2022 with 1,637 total yards from scrimmage, 13 rushing touchdowns, 915 rushing yards and 107 receptions. His 107 catches led all running backs, tied for the fifth-most in the NFL, and were tied for the second-most by a running back in a single season in NFL history. He also led the NFL in 2022 with 843 yards after catch. Ekeler was one of an NFL-record six players on the team to top 500 receiving yards and three touchdown grabs in the same season.
In 2021 Ekeler established numerous career benchmarks under Foster's tutelage, as he tied for an NFL-high with 20 scrimmage touchdowns, becoming the fourth Charger ever to have a share of the league lead in touchdowns for a season. His 20 scrimmage scores tied for the second-most by any Charger in a single season. The season also marked Ekeler's second with eight receiving touchdowns (2019), joining Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk (2000 and 2001 seasons) as the only running backs in the common draft era (since 1967) with multiple seasons of eight-plus touchdown grabs. Ekeler scored nine touchdowns in prime time games, tying Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith (1995) for the second-most by any player in a single season in NFL history, trailing only Hall of Fame wide wide receiver Randy Moss' 11 in 2007 with New England. Foster's coaching helped the offense rank fourth in the NFL in total offense (390.2 yards-per-game), and the Chargers scored 181 points in the fourth quarter, the second-most in a single season in NFL history.
Prior to leading the running backs group for the Bolts, Foster spent three seasons at the University of Iowa (2018-20). Under Foster's direction as running backs coach/offensive recruiting coordinator in 2020, sophomore Tyler Goodson was named first-team All-Big Ten by both media and conference coaches after carrying the ball 143 times for 812 yards with seven touchdowns in an eight-game COVID-abbreviated season. He was the first Hawkeyes running back since 2008 to earn All-Conference honors.
Foster joined the Hawkeyes after a two-year stint at Samford University (2016-17), where he served as run game coordinator/running backs coach, helping lead the Bulldogs to two straight FCS playoff appearances. Foster coached three seasons at Northwestern State (La.) from 2013-15, where coached running backs (2013) and wide receivers (2014-15), developing some of the top wideouts in program history. In 2014 Ed Eagan set the program's single-season receptions record (73) and single-game receiving record (238) on a record-tying 13 receptions under Foster's coaching, spurring a stint in the NFL where he first signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cowboys in 2016. Foster also tutored Bryant Mitchell, who went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in the CFL.
Foster broke into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee (2012) and Valdosta State University (2011), assisting the offensive coaching staff, particularly the running backs, and special teams units.
Foster played running back and wide receiver at Southwest Baptist (Mo.). He started 41-of-44 career game appearances for the Bearcats and finished his career with 2,062 all-purpose yards. He graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and went on to earn a master's degree in public administration from Valdosta State in 2013.
Foster and his wife, Bianca, have two children - Cooper and Brielle.
