Broncos RB coach Modkins on short list for TCU top job

What a week it’s been for Denver Broncos running backs coach Curtis Modkins.

First, Modkins spoke to the Broncos players on Saturday ahead of the team’s upset win against the Dallas Cowboys this past weekend, which featured a ground attack that accounted for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Modkins was given a game ball for his efforts.

Then, one of Modkins’ pupils — Javonte Williams, who also received a game ball Sunday — earned Rookie of the Week honors from the NFL on Thursday.

And all the while, the longtime college and NFL assistant has been floated as one of the potential successors to Gary Patterson at Texas Christian University.

Modkins, a Horned Frogs alum who also started his coaching career with TCU as a graduate assistant in 1995, is among a handful of candidates for the opening, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Other candidates reported include Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, SMU head coach Sonny Dykes, Louisiana head coach Billy Napier, Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders, Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.

TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said earlier this month that the school would like to have a coach and staff in place by early December — before the NCAA early signing period starts on Dec. 15.

The school and Patterson agreed to part ways on Oct. 31 after two decades together.

“The story of Gary Patterson and the rise in the fortunes of the TCU football program over the last 20 years is clearly one of the most remarkable in the history of college football,” Donati said in a statement. “We are grateful to Gary and Kelsey Patterson and appreciate everything they have meant to TCU and the Fort Worth community.

“Under his leadership, TCU has become a nationally recognized brand name in football and in collegiate athletics.”

Over the course of his quarter-century coaching football, Modkins has helped four different rushers to 1,000-yard seasons, including C.J. Spiller for Buffalo in 2012, Reggie Bush with Detroit in 2013, Jordan Howard with Chicago in 2017 and Phillip Lindsay with Denver in 2018 and 2019.

Currently, the Broncos sit in ninth place among all NFL squads in terms of rushing yards, with Williams (466), Melvin Gordon III (477) and a handful of others combining for 1,019 yards in nine games — 113.2 yards per game.

While he’s held coordinator positions on a few occasions in the NFL, Modkins has never been a head coach at any level.