From All-State player to All-American recruiter: How Curtis Luper became one of the nation’s best running backs coaches

In 1986, Oklahoma State running back Curtis Luper finished as the team’s seventh-leading rusher, carrying the ball seven times for 22 yards while appearing in 10 games. His lack of production was a testament to the quality of the program’s depth rather than an indictment of his own skill — after all, he was a letterwinner at a power conference college program, an accomplishment which in his home state of Texas is held in the same esteem as a Nobel Prize.

Simply put, there were too many good players in his way.

There was Mitch Nash, who carried 82 times for nearly 300 yards that season. Garrett Limbrick, who finished his future NFL career with 14 yards over three years, was clearly an option on the ground as well.

And then there were the two guys who led the way — some guys named Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas.

Being in the same depth chart as two future NFL MVPs showed Luper what the best of the best look like. While it may not have led to a fruitful NFL career of his own, Luper — affectionately known by his players as Coach Loop — has become one of the nation’s best running back coaches.

It’s no coincidence that since his arrival in 2019, Missouri’s shortlist of best players each year is typically headlined by a running back; Cody Schrader and Tyler Badie each had 1,000 yard seasons under Luper’s guidance, while Larry Rountree III’s 972 yards in the shortened 2020 season left him just shy of the mark.

“Loop’s always had an eye for picking talented running backs,” Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “You look at the guys we’ve had here, the guys that he’s been able to attract to our program. He does a good job of believing in them.”

Luper’s résumé of developed players reads like a who’s-who of underrated running backs of the 2010s. There’s Ben Tate, the Auburn Tiger whose 3,321 career rushing yards put him in the Bo Jackson echelon of feature backs to don the Auburn jersey. Under Luper’s supervision at TCU, Aaron Green and Kyle Hicks ran for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back years –– the first Horned Frogs to do so since 2002-03. At Missouri, Rountree III went from a three-star recruit to the running back with the most yards in program history.

Though the box scores may convey such a message, Luper is not a miracle worker. His coaching style consists of two focal points: technique and attitude. As far as the former goes, there aren’t many better coaches in ball.

“He just [teaches us to] do what we can do as a back, just keeping our head down, just running really aggressive. Ball security is our job security,” running back Jamal Roberts said. “He really rotates us a lot at the back position, he really takes care of us well and our legs so we run at our full potential.”

Being a running back is physically and mentally grueling. Luper knows the importance of mentality as well as anyone, and he preaches it to his players.

“Coach Loop is a great guy; he pushes every day. Even when we do wrong, we find a way to fix it,” running back Ahmad Hardy said. “His personality, he just comes ready to work every day and we just come ready to work for him every day.”

Luper’s work has paid off early in Missouri’s 2025 campaign. Hardy’s 250 rushing yards against Louisiana was the seventh-highest single-game total ever by a Missouri player. Through five weeks, Hardy leads the Southeastern Conference with 730 rush yards. The Tigers dominated the Border War against Kansas by way of Luper’s position group, finishing with 261 rushing yards and a 63-yard game-sealing touchdown from Roberts.

Like any football coach, Luper is always focused on the future. While his efforts may have blessed the Tigers with three full seasons of eligibility for Hardy — although it is presumed he will go to the draft after two — there is always another year to worry about. Luper’s efforts on the recruiting trail are never-ending.

Luper has already secured a commitment for the 2026 season from three-star Maxwell Warner, and the Tigers have five more offers on the table for uncommitted running backs in the class. They have doled out 16 such offers in the 2027 recruiting class, with recipients ranging from four-star to zero-star prospects. The stars may be deceiving, as Luper has turned plenty of “lower-tier” prospects into productive backs. The best example of this development is Schrader, who was unranked on recruiting platforms and began his Missouri career as a walk-on.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Luper was among the staff members who were able to secure a “flip” — when a player decommits from one school to join another — from two running backs: Marquise Davis, a four-star recruit who flipped from the University of Kentucky, and Brendon Haygood, a three-star who decommitted from Boise State to join the Tigers.

The latter flip was no small feat, as the Broncos are well-known across college football as one of the best programs for running backs across the nation, producing NFL stars like Jay Ajayi, Doug Martin and, most recently, Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty.

In the new age of college sports, it’s crucial to get young players significant playing time early in their careers to keep them from transferring to another program to see more opportunities. Luper and Missouri have not always been successful with this. Kewan Lacy, a former three-star recruit, transferred from Missouri to Ole Miss after his freshman season, in which he ran for 104 yards on just 23 carries.

In just two games played as a Tiger, Davis eclipsed those numbers, carrying 25 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The early efforts of both running backs have generated praise within the program.

“Those guys are really tough runners,” Drinkwitz said. “Marquise and Haygood are going to be really bright spots for us in the future. They just got to continue to believe in the development. They’ve got a really good back in front of them, but they’re going to get their opportunities.”

 

Edited by Killian Wright | [email protected]
Copy edited by Ella McGuire and Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]