Marco Regalado, the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), spoke about his experience and coaching philosophy, particularly concerning the running back position. UTRGV is the newest Division I football program in Texas, and its first game in school history is scheduled for August 30th. Regalado was hired on November 28, 2023, and at the time of the video, there were less than 100 days until kickoff. Background and Coaching Experience Regalado was a high school football coach for five years, mostly in the Coastal Bend area. His high school coaching jobs included Santa Gertrudis Academy High School in Kingsville, Texas, after finishing his master's degree at Texas A&M Kingsville. He also coached at Mathis High School, PSJA Memorial High School in the Rio Grande Valley, and Eaton High School in the Haslet/Fort Worth area. He then got an opportunity to work as a recruiting assistant at Washington State University in Pullman. He worked his way up to director of recruiting at Washington State before working for Coach Bloom at Rice, where the team won games and qualified for bowl games. Developing a Work Mentality Regalado emphasizes instilling a "work mentality" in the running back room, which he believes can be developed. The focus of this mentality is on a downhill and vertical running style. Regalado outlined several challenges and necessary adjustments for high school running backs transitioning to the college level:

• Space and Speed: College football is tighter and faster than high school. High school running backs are often used to open space and may be the best athletes on their roster, allowing them to rely on outrunning everyone to the sideline. At the college level, everyone is fast.
• Emphasizing Positive Yards: Not every play can be a long touchdown run. A run for three or four yards is considered a "hell of a run," and the focus should be on eliminating negative runs by getting vertical, moving the chains, and getting first downs.
• Avoiding Overcomplication: Running backs should focus on doing their job and having a downhill mentality, as explosive runs happen when the defense is misaligned, over-pursues, or misses tackles. Trying to do too much by bouncing runs when they shouldn't leads to negative runs.

Regalado noted that players who were used to seeing holes large enough to "drive a truck through" in high school must learn that the college crease may not be what they think it is. Running Back Drills Regalado described several drills used to develop the vertical mentality:

• Jump Cut Drill: This drill is done almost every day. It involves dropping the pad level, driving off the inside foot (left foot in the example), and executing a jump cut. The goal is to get as close to the offensive line's heel line (bags) as possible before the cut. Regalado stresses that a jump cut is moving lateral to get vertical, so as soon as the player clears the bag, he needs to go vertical. They record drills so players can see their mistakes.
• Ball Security Component: Ball security is incorporated into drills by adding a ball security aspect. He also mentioned the "stumble drill" and using a "blaster" after practice for fumbles as an incentive for better ball security.
• Zone Path Drill (Inside Zone): This drill works on the inside zone path, where the running back is reading the playside guard. The options are to bang it, bounce it, or cut it back. Coaches need to make the backs make decisions at the last possible second.
• Outside Zone: The track on outside zone is the tight end or the "ghost of the tight end". The tempo is different; the running back is flat initially, then runs their track. The objective is to run lateral to create vertical seams. Running backs should stick a foot and get vertical as soon as they see the vertical seam or the back of a teammate's jersey.
• Counter Schemes: Regalado loves counter schemes (GT, GH, GF counter). He teaches the backs to read the pullers.
  • Reading the First Puller (Same Side Footwork): If the first puller "kicks out," the back should think "downhill" immediately, expecting the second puller to lead them into the hole. If the first puller "logs," the back should go outside. The first puller tells the back exactly where the play is going.
  • Tempo and Patience: For same-side counter, Regalado suggests a slight pause to figure out what the first puller is doing. For counters coming from across the formation, the footwork is an open/crossover step similar to inside zone, and the back can be extremely patient.

"Plus Two Mentality" and Recruiting Regalado also mentioned the "plus two mentality" in the running back room: on contact, he wants an extra two yards. He also stated that the first five yards are for the team, meaning the back's job is to get vertical and gain five yards; anything after that is for the back to "go have fun". When recruiting, Regalado stated that because UTRGV is a brand new program, they need talented players but cannot "sacrifice too much in terms of guys that are going to continue to build our culture the right way". He uses a "sliding scale" for size and speed; for example, a smaller receiver must be more dynamic and explosive. He also noted that for offensive linemen at Rice, the three essential qualities were flexibility, feet, and nastiness, where a player could have two out of the three. Nastiness was considered the non-negotiable trait, as feet and flexibility can be coached and improved.