Todd McNair announced as part of 2020 Class for Temple Athletics Hall of Fame

Two years ago Todd McNair became the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ running backs coach. In his first year Peyton Barber and Ronald Jones II combined to give the Bucs their first 1,000-yard rushing duo since 2015, when Doug Martin carried the workload for a 1,900-yard pairing combined with Charles Sims.

In his second year on the team, he’s helped get Jones to within 100-yards of the Bucs’ first solo 1,000-yard rushing season since the same year Martin did it those six seasons ago.

Six years ago, McNair was out of coaching and things didn’t look so bright. Now, he’s on the verge of being a working member of an NFL playoff team and is headed to the Hall of Fame.

That story takes us even further back. Before the Bucs, the Trojans, Reggie Bush, the NFL altogether; all of it. To Temple University.

Playing four years for Temple, McNair totaled 566 career carries and gained 2,383 career yards while scoring sixteen rushing touchdowns. Showing some versatility to his game, he also brought in 45 career receptions and scored one receiving touchdown while adding 283-yards from scrimmage.

He wasn’t done there though. McNair also returned kickoffs and punts scoring a touchdown on a punt return during his freshman year in 1985.

The Owls’ running back was such a focal point of the 1987 and 88 football teams that he ranked third each season in plays from scrimmage, and finished seventh in the country with 1,170-yards rushing in 1987 alone.

All of this led to McNair being drafted in the 8th Round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs launching what would become an eight-year professional career. Six of those eight years were spent with the franchise that drafted him, while two were spent with the Houston Oilers during the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

In his NFL career, McNair started ten games of the 121 he appeared in and carried the ball 147 times while being a receiver 254 times. In all, he amassed 3,238-yards from scrimmage and scored ten career touchdowns.

McNair has had his share of ups and downs in football and in life, and those experiences are undoubtedly a benefit to young backs like Jones as he continues to strive to reach the peak of his own potential.

According to Temple’s own post about their 2020 Hall of Fame class, McNair is the sixth rusher all-time for the school and was an AP All-East selection in both 1987 and 1988.

We here at Bucs Nation congratulate coach McNair on his achievements and this recognition and wish him the best as he continues to help make the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the best team they can be in 2020 and beyond.