Chris Barclay - Football Coach - University of Louisville Athletic

Chris Barclay

Title:
Running Backs
Email:
coachbarclay@GoCards.com

Chris Barclay, a Louisville native and former National Football League running back, was tabbed to coach the running backs at the University of Louisville in December of 2022.

A graduate of Male High School, Barclay begins his 15th season of collegiate coaching, spending six seasons at Purdue and one at Western Kentucky.

In his first two seasons, Barclay has produced a pair of first team All-ACC performers in Isaac Brown (2024) and Jawhar Jordan (2023). Brown, who was a freshman All-American, set the school's freshman rushing record and broke Lamar Jackson's freshman mark by running for 1,173 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025. He became the first true freshman to run for over 1,000 yards in a season

The 2023 campaign saw Barclay tutor a duo that was one of the most productive in the ACC, combining for 1,938 yards and 24 touchdowns. Jawhar Jordan, a first team All-ACC performer, rushed for 1,128 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Isaac Guerendo added 810 yards and 11 scores. Both Jordan and Guerendo were drafted in the later rounds of the NFL Draft.

The Cards finished the 2023 season second in the league with 31 touchdowns and were third in total rushing yards, while averaging 178.5 yards on the ground.

While at Purdue, the running backs combined to rush for more than 1,500 yards this season led by Devin Mockobee, who heads into Purdue’s bowl game with 920 yards. Barclay and the Boilermakers captured the Big Ten West Division crown and played in the conference championship game.

Barclay’s running backs also eclipsed 1,000 yards in 2017, 2018 and 2021. In the six-game 2020 campaign, running back Zander Horvath accumulated 746 all-purpose yards and earned third team All-Big Ten honors.

Barclay spent one season working with Brohm at WKU before moving to Purdue. Under Barclay’s guidance, Anthony Wales was named the Conference USA Championship Game Most Valuable Player and the Boca Raton Bowl Offensive MVP. Wales rushed for 1,621 yards on 237 attempts (6.8 average) and a school-record 27 touchdowns. Wales’ touchdown total led the nation, while his yardage total ranked eighth among FBS players. Wales finished the season ranked 13th in the FBS in all-purpose yards with 1,944.

Prior to Western Kentucky, Barclay spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as running backs coach at Marshall. In 2014, Barclay led Devon Johnson to 1,767 rushing yards on 206 attempts (8.6 average) and 17 touchdowns. Johnson was a 2014 Doak Walker Award semifinalist, finishing sixth in the nation in rushing yards and 13th in rushing touchdowns in his first seasons as a running back after moving from tight end. As a team, the Thundering Herd led the conference in rushing yards per game (271.9), rushing touchdowns (40) and yards per carry (6.8) in 2014.
Barclay also spent a pair of seasons coaching running backs at William & Mary and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Wake Forest, in 2011.

The Demon Deacons’ all-time leading rushing and scorer (non-kicker) with 4,032 yards, 40 touchdowns and 240 points, Barclay was the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to lead the league in rushing three consecutive seasons, finishing with 1,192 yards in 2003, 1,010 in 2004 and 1,127 in 2005. He was named First Team All-ACC twice and was the 2005 ACC Player of the Year. He was inducted into the Wake Forest Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns, Barclay played in the National Football League for three seasons with the Browns (2006-07), Tennessee Titans (2007), New Orleans Saints (2007) and Atlanta Falcons (2008). He also played with the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe in 2007 and the New York Sentinels in the United States Football League in 2009.

Barclay graduated from Wake Forest in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He and his wife, Ashlee, have two daughters, Houstyn, Harrisyn and Hollyn.