Chris Foster is in his sixth season as Georgia Southern’s running backs coach and was elevated to associate head coach in 2019 by head coach Chad Lunsford. Foster has plenty of experience coaching the position as he logged 12 years of coaching involvement at three previous stops to Statesboro.
In his first season at Georgia Southern, the Eagle running backs combined to rush for 1,639 yards and 15 touchdowns while catching five touchdown passes. Matt Breida signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers following the 2017 NFL Draft and has gone on to become a starter in the league now with the Miami Dolphins.
In 2017, the Eagles led the Sun Belt in rushing yards as four running backs combined to rush for 1,699 yards and 14 touchdowns. Junior Wesley Fields led the squad with 811 yards and five scores, earning honorable mention all-conference honors. The Eagles’ recruiting class was ranks tops in the conference by 247Sports. In 2018, Fields went over 1,000 yards rushing and became the first player in school history to lead the team in rushing and receiving yards in the same season as he earned second-team all-conference honors.
In 2019, Wesley Kennedy III scored 11 rushing touchdowns in just nine games and the tandem of Kennedy III and J.D. King combined for over 1,600 yards rushing and 19 scores.
In 2020, his running backs combined to rush for 2,427 yards and 17 touchdowns as the Eagle offense finished sixth in the country in average rushing yards per game (267.1 ypg). Foster was also a nominee for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Foster came to Georgia Southern from Maryville (TN) College, where he spent the 2015 season as a running backs coach. In his lone season there, he coached a rushing attack that averaged 257.4 yards per game and had 29 rushing touchdowns. Deshjion Whitlock averaged 5.9 yards per carry on his 154 attempts, accumulating 906 total rushing yards while scoring 13 touchdowns en route to first-team all-conference honors.
Prior to Maryville, Foster spent three seasons at Appalachian State, coaching a pair of his pupils to two of the best campaigns by running backs in school history. His efforts produced seven all-conference players and a pair of FCS All-Americans.
In 2013, Marcus Cox set App State freshman records with 1,250 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns, en route to being named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, placing second in voting for the Jerry Rice Award (NCAA Division I FCS Freshman of the Year) and being the only FCS representative on 247Sports’ True Freshman All-America team. Cox also set a new SoCon record by being named the league’s Freshman of the Week six times in just 10 starts.
In Foster’s first season with the Mountaineers (2012), Steven Miller rushed for 1,368 yards, good for 16th nationally in NCAA Division I FCS. Miller also caught 34 passes for 377 yards and scored 15 touchdowns (11 rushing, four receiving) in Foster’s only season as his mentor. Miller went on to sign with the NFL’s Detroit Lions on their practice squad.
Foster came to Appalachian State from Gardner-Webb, where he served as the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ running backs coach for eight seasons (2004-11).
He coached an All-Big South performer in four of his eight seasons at G-W, including each of his final three campaigns in Boiling Springs. In Foster’s final season at G-W, running back Kenny Little became the Bulldogs’ first 1,000-yard rusher in 11 years.
In his eight seasons at Gardner-Webb, Foster also served as the staff’s primary academic advisor and a top recruiter. Additionally, he oversaw the program’s strength and conditioning activities on an interim basis in 2006.
Foster began his coaching career immediately upon his graduation from Gardner-Webb, where he was one of the program’s all-time best rushers from 2000-03. A two-time all-Big South running back, Foster ranked sixth in Gardner-Webb history at the time of his graduation (and seventh currently) with 1,883 career rushing yards.
Foster was also a two-time first-team academic all-district honoree, making him one of only two student-athletes in Gardner-Webb football history to earn the prestigious recognition multiple times.
A Chesnee, South Carolina, native, Foster was a South Carolina Mr. Football award finalist and the Appalachian 2A Conference Player of the Year at Chesnee High in 2000. He graduated from GWU in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
Foster has two daughters, Journei and Bella, and is engaged to Jennifer Foster.
THE FOSTER FILE
Personal
Hometown: Chesnee, S.C.
Born: August 25, 1982 in Spartanburg, S.C.
College: Gardner-Webb (2003)
Family: fiancé, Jennifer; daughters, Journei, Bella
Playing Experience
Gardner-Webb (2000-03)
Coaching Experience
2019- Georgia Southern (associate head coach/running backs)
2018 Georgia Southern (running backs/recruiting coordinator)
2016-17 Georgia Southern (running backs)
2015 Maryville (running backs)
2012-14 Appalachian State (running backs)
2004-11 Gardner-Webb (running backs)
College Bowl/Postseason Experience
2020 New Orleans (GS vs. Louisiana Tech)
2019 Cure (GS vs. Liberty)
2018 Camellia (GS vs. Eastern Michigan)
2012 NCAA FCS Second Round (ASU)
Prominent Pupils
Matt Breida (RB): San Francisco 49ers
Steven Miller (RB): Detroit Lions
Wesley Fields (RB): San Francisco 49ers
Jalin Moore (RB): New York Jets
Marcus Cox (RB): App State all-time leading rusher
