Ja'Juan Seider

Ja'Juan Seider
Current position
TitleCo-offensive coordinator & running backs coach
TeamPenn State
Biographical details
Born (1977-04-16) April 16, 1977 (age 47)
Belle Glade, Florida, U.S.
Alma materWest Virginia University
Playing career
1995–1998West Virginia
1999Florida A&M
Position(s)Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2002Glades Central HS (FL) (RB)
2003–2005Palm Beach Lakes HS (FL) (OC)
2006–2007Lake Worth HS (FL) (QB)
2008–2009West Virginia (GA)
2010–2012Marshall (RB)
2013–2016West Virginia (RB)
2017Florida (RB)
2018–2019Penn State (RB)
2020Penn State (RB/RGC)
2021–presentPenn State (AHC/co-OC/RB)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
  • MEAC Offensive Player of the Year (1999)
  • First-team All-MEAC (1999)

Ja'Juan Seider (born April 16, 1977), is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the running backs coach for Penn State. He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Florida A&M Rattlers. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers.[1][2]

Early life

A native of Belle Glade, Florida, Seider was an All-District quarterback at Glades Central High School.[3] After his senior season, Seider would accept a scholarship to play college football at West Virginia University.[4]

College playing career

After spending four years as a backup quarterback at West Virginia University, Seider transferred to Florida A&M for his senior season to play for head coach Billy Joe.[3]

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Seider's first coaching job would be at his high school alma mater, Glades Central High School coaching running backs in 2001 and 2002.[5] He would spend the next two seasons as offensive coordinator at Palm Beach Lakes High.[citation needed] The following two seasons he would spend at Lake Worth Community High School coaching quarterbacks.[5] Seider would join Bill Stewart’s Mountaineer staff as a graduate assistant in 2008 and 2009.[6]

Marshall

Marshall’s Doc Holliday hired him away to serve as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 2010 to 2012.[7]

West Virginia

In 2013, Seider was hired by head coach Dana Holgorsen as the running backs coach for the West Virginia Mountaineers.[8] Seider would spend four seasons with the Mountaineers, and would produce 1,000-yard rushers three of the four years.[9] Charles Sims amassed 1,095 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground in 2013,[10] and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him 69th overall in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft.[11] Wendell Smallwood followed suit in 2015, recording 1,519 yards (tops in the Big 12) and nine touchdowns and was selected 150th overall in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.[12][13] In 2016, Justin Crawford led West Virginia in the rushing with 1,184 yards, good for third in the Big 12.[14]

Florida

In 2017, Seider was hired by the Florida Gators and head coach Jim McElwain as the running backs coach.[1] Seider would only spend one season at Florida after McElwain was fired and replaced by Dan Mullen.[15] Seider was retained by Coach Mullen to coach tight ends, but chose to weigh other coaching options.[16]

Penn State

On January 25, 2018, Penn State head coach James Franklin announced Ja'Juan Seider as the Nittany Lions’ running backs coach.[17] The Nittany Lions rushed for 204.9 yards per game. This was the highest per game total since 2008, when Penn State rushed for 205.8.[18] Sanders, who rushed for 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns,[19] was selected in the second round (53rd overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019 NFL draft.[20]

During the middle of the 2023 season, Seider was promoted to interim co-offensive coordinator for the remainder of the season.

References

  1. ^ a b Andreu, Robbie."McElwain welcomes assistant:, The Gainesville Sun, February 3,2017, retrieved March 17,2018.
  2. ^ "2000 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Kelly, Omar."Seider's Decision To Transfer From West Virginia Pays Off", Sun-Sentinel, November 19, 1999, retrieved March 11, 2018.
  4. ^ Heeren, Dave."Glades Central 8 Cream Of County Crop", Sun-Sentinel, February 2,1995, retrieved March 17,2018.
  5. ^ a b Goldkamp, Thomas."JaJuan Seider hired at Florida", CBSSports.com, February 3,2017, retrieved March 20,2018.
  6. ^ Hertzel, Bob."Seider returns to WVU as running back coach", Times West Virginian, March 8,2013, retrieved March 20,2018.
  7. ^ Hanshew, Anthony."Seider, Holliday reunite with Herd", The Herald-Dispatch, January 11, 2010, retrieved March 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "JaJuan Seider Hired As WVU's Running Backs Coach", The Smoking Musket, March 8,2013, retrieved March 21,2018.
  9. ^ Coyle, Geoff."WVU RB Coach JaJuan Seider Leaving for Florida", West Virginia Illustrated, February 2, 2017, retrieved March 11, 2018.
  10. ^ Hirsch, Will."2014 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Unit Previews: Running Backs", smokingmusket.com, August 27,2014, retrieved March 17,2018.
  11. ^ Verderame, Matt."NFL Draft results 2014: Buccaneers take Charles Sims in 3rd round", SBNation.com, May 9,2014, retrieved March 16,2018.
  12. ^ Kirchner, Matt."West Virginia Running Back Wendell Smallwood Declares For 2016 NFL Draft", smokingmusket.com, January 6,2016, retrieved March 17,2018.
  13. ^ Bowen, Les."Eagles: Wendell Smallwood's 'a good kid'", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 2,2016, retrieved March 17,2018.
  14. ^ Taylor, Allan."Justin Crawford vows ‘one more amazing year’ at West Virginia", West Virginia MetroNews, January 11,2017, retrieved March 17,2018.
  15. ^ Thompson, Edgar."Florida Gators hire Dan Mullen as head football coach", Orlando Sentinel, November 26, 2017, retrieved March 19,2018.
  16. ^ Connelly, Steve."JaJuan Seider To Join Penn State Coaching Staff", Onward State, January 24,2018, retrieved March 19,2018.
  17. ^ "Seider Joins FB Staff as Running Backs Coach" Archived August 18, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, gopsusports.com, January 25,2018, retrieved March 17,2018.
  18. ^ "Freiermuth and Menet Selected to Preseason Watch Lists". gopsusports.com. 2019 Penn State Nittany Lions. July 19, 2019. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  19. ^ Wogenrich, Mark (April 26, 2019). "What Penn State's Miles Sanders will bring to the Philadelphia Eagles". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  20. ^ Wesseling, Chris (April 26, 2019). "Eagles select Miles Sanders, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside". NFL.com. National Football League. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.