Vanderbilt football head coach Clark Lea has announced the hiring of Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford as run game coordinator and running backs coach.
Muhammad-Lankford will be reunited with offensive coordinator Tim Beck after the pair was on staff together at New Mexico State the past two seasons. The pair worked under head coach Jerry Kill, who was recently announced as Vanderbilt’s chief consultant to the head coach and senior offensive advisor. Muhammad-Lankford has previous coaching stops at Missouri, Southeast Missouri State and Illinois State.
“I am excited to announce the addition of Ghaali to our coaching staff,” Lea said. “He has spent time in the SEC, has served as a coordinator, and has experience working in Coach Beck’s system. All these aspects of his background will help move our program forward. Please join me in welcoming Ghaali and his family to Nashville.”
Muhammad-Lankford spent the past two seasons 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 last season, 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.
