Drayton, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, joins the Nittany Lions after spending three seasons as the head coach at Temple. He is a 32-year coaching veteran with 25 years of experience coaching running backs. Drayton has been a part of two national championship coaching staffs and brings five years of NFL coaching experience.
During his coaching career, Drayton has tutored prominent running backs, including Brian Westbrook, Jerious Norwood, Carlos Hyde, Ezekiel Elliott, Bijan Robinson, Matt Forte and Jordan Howard. He has coached seven 1,000-yard rushers, five NFL Draft picks and two All-Americans.
Coaching Accomplishments
- Prior to Temple, Drayton was the associate head coach, running backs coach and run game coordinator at Texas for five seasons under Tom Herman (2017-20) and Steve Sarkisian (2021).
- In his five seasons with the Longhorns, Drayton guided the development of a trio of backs who made significant impacts in Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson and Keaontay Ingram.
- During the 2021 season, Robinson finished third in the Big 12 in rushing (112.7 yards per game; 8th nationally) and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors.
- Robinson had a breakout year in 2020, tallying 703 rushing yards on just 86 carries to break the school’s single-season yards per carry average record at 8.2 ypg.
- During the 2019 season at UT, Drayton was influential in the growth of Ingram, who totaled 1,095 yards from scrimmage (853 rushing, 242 receiving).
- Drayton also oversaw Johnson’s seamless transition from quarterback to running back as a true freshman, a move that took place just one week prior to the season opener. Johnson racked up 807 all-purpose yards (649 rushing, 158 receiving) on 146 touches.
- In 2018, Drayton mentored two newcomers in Ingram and graduate transfer Tre Watson. The duo combined for 1,494 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground, while adding 313 yards receiving with five more touchdowns.
- Prior to Texas, Drayton served as running backs coach for the Chicago Bears from 2015-16, where he led rooms consisting of Jordan Howard, Matt Forte and Jeremy Lanford.
- In 2016 under Drayton, Howard set the Bears single-season rookie rushing record with 1,313 yards, breaking the previous mark held by Matt Forte despite only having 12 carries in the team’s first three games.
- Howard’s 1,313 yards were the second-best rushing total of any player in the NFL regular season, trailing only Elliott (1,631), who was coached by Drayton at Ohio State.
- In 2015, the Bears rushing offense was 11th in the NFL averaging 115.9 yards per game, a 16-spot improvement from their ranking of 27th (90.1 ypg) a year prior to his arrival. Drayton helped Langford, a fourth-round draft pick, finish fifth among all NFL rookies with seven touchdowns and ninth among rookies with 816 yards from scrimmage.
- Before joining the Bears, Drayton coached at Ohio State where he won the 2014 National Championship. He joined OSU as a wide receivers coach in 2011, before leading the running backs for the next three seasons.
- During the National Championship season in 2014, Drayton tutored Elliott, who as a sophomore, finished third in the nation and second in single-season school history with 1,878 rushing yards.
- Elliott capped the 2014 season with three-straight 200-yard rushing games (tied for the most in single-season school history with Eddie George in 1995). He was named College Football Playoff National Championship Offensive MVP with 246 rushing yards (tied for third most in single-game school history) and four touchdowns on 36 carries against Oregon. Elliott was also named Offensive MVP of the Sugar Bowl (230 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries) versus Alabama in the semifinals.
- In 2013, Drayton helped senior running back Carlos Hyde finish eighth in the nation in rushing, averaging 126.8 yards per game (1,521 yards and 15 touchdowns on 208 carries in 12 contests).
- Hyde was named the Big Ten’s Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year as his 1,521 rushing yards were eighth-most in school history and his 7.3 yards per carry was the highest single-season average in school history.
- In his first season as Ohio State’s running backs coach in 2012, Drayton guided the Buckeyes running backs to 1,536 yards, 21 touchdowns and an average of 5.4 yards per carry during the team’s 12-0 campaign.
- Prior to his time with the Buckeyes, Drayton spent the 2010 season as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida for his second stint with the Gators, while also making stops at Syracuse (2009) and Tennessee (2008).
- In 2006 during his first stint with the Gators, Florida won the BCS National Championship as the Gators averaged 160 rushing yards per game.
- At Mississippi State, Drayton helped guide Jerious Norwood to a 1,000-yard rushing season in 2004 before he went on be chosen in the third round of the 2006 draft by the Atlanta Falcons.
- Before Mississippi State, Drayton coached running backs at Bowling Green (2000), Villanova (1996-2000), Pennsylvania (1995) and his alma mater Allegheny College (1993).
- Drayton also had stints with Green Bay Packers as an offensive quality control and special teams assistant (2001-03) and Eastern Michigan as a graduate assistant (1994).
- Another prominent pupil at Villanova was Westbrook, a two-time All-American who became the first collegiate player on any level to record more than 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in the same season, when he did so in 1998.
- Westbrook, a College Football Hall of Famer and winner of the 2001 Walter Payton Award as the Offensive Player of the Year in NCAA Division I-AA, was a third-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2002 NFL Draft.
Accomplishments as a Player
- A three-time first-team All-America selection as a running back at Allegheny College, Drayton is second in the school’s record book for rushing (3,272 yards), rushing touchdowns (54) and scoring (336 points), and was a part of the 1990 Division III National Championship team.
- He was also a two-time All-American in track, competing in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
- A 1993 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English, Drayton was inducted into the Allegheny College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Drayton File
Personal
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Education: Allegheny College, 1993 - B.A. English
Family: Wife: Monique; Daughters: Amari, Anaya
Coaching Career
2025 – Penn State (Running Backs)
2022-24 – Temple (Head Coach)
2017-21 – Texas (Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs/Run Game Coordinator)
2015-16 – Chicago Bears (Running Backs)
2012-14 – Ohio State (Running Backs)
2011 – Ohio State (Wide Receivers)
2010 – Florida (Running Backs)
2009 – Syracuse (Running Backs)
2008 – Tennessee (Running Backs)
2005-07 – Florida (Running Backs)
2004 – Mississippi State (Running Backs)
2001-03 – Green Bay Packers (Offensive Quality Control/Special Teams)
2000 – Bowling Green (Running Backs)
1996-99 – Villanova (Running Backs)
1995 – Penn (Running Backs)
1994 – Eastern Michigan (Graduate Assistant)
1993 – Allegheny (Running Backs)
Playing Experience
- Allegheny College (1989-92)