Malcolm Agnew was hired as the Sacramento State running backs coach in February of 2020. Agnew comes to the Hornets after spending the past three seasons at North Dakota in the same position.
In his first year with the Hornets, Agnew coached freshman running back Cameron Skattebo to third team all-Big Sky honors. Skattebo rushed for 523 yards and six touchdowns with all but 12 of those yards coming in the final six games of the season. Overall, the team's running backs combined for 1,258 rushing yards and nine touchdowns and also caught 68 passes for 643 yards and two scores. The unit averaged 5.80 yards per carry and were led by Skattebo who had a healthy 9.18 ypc average.
While at UND, Agnew coached John Santiago and Brady Oliveira to all-Big Sky honors in 2017. Santiago became just the fifth player in Big Sky history to secure first-team accolades at the same position as a freshman, sophomore, and junior after rushing for 717 yards and five touchdowns while leading the FCS in the regular season with 1,780 all-purpose yards. Oliveira added 637 rushing yards en route to honorable mention accolades.
The following season, UND boasted a three-headed monster at running back with Santiago, Oliveira, and James Johannesson accounting for over 2,700 yards on the ground and 20 touchdowns. With Santiago suiting up in only eight games due to injury, Oliveira shined for the Fighting Hawks with 1,044 all-purpose yards, accumulating an average of 94.9 total yards per game, a team-high 940 yards, 161 carries, and eight touchdowns. He registered four 100-yard rushing games, including a pair of 150+ performances. Johannesson also boasted a trio of 100-yard contests, including a 213-yard day at Sacramento State.
In 2019, Johannesson led the team with 530 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. UND again had a balanced attack with five players rushing for over 150 yards and eight recording at least one rushing touchdown.
Agnew spent his first two seasons as a collegian playing for Mike Riley at Oregon State in 2011 and 2012. As a freshman, he nearly single-handedly helped the Beavers rally to force overtime against Sacramento State. He finished the game with 33 carries for 223 yards and had three touchdowns only to have the Hornets pull off a 29-28 overtime victory.
After rushing for more than 600Â yards in two seasons with the Beavers, Agnew transferred to Southern Illinois where he played his final two collegiate seasons. He amassed 1,708 rushing yards for the Salukis.
Following his graduation, Agnew served as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at his alma mater, De Smet Jesuit High School, in St. Louis, Mo., in the fall of 2015. He also spent time with the Los Angeles Rams as a volunteer scouting assistant.
The following year, Agnew was re-united with Riley where he served as a personnel assistant and focused on recruiting at Nebraska.
His father, Ray Agnew, played 11 seasons in the National Football League and won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams in 1999 and has been working for the organization since his retirement in 2000 (scouting since 2005). Agnew’s brother, Ray III, had a brief stint in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (2014), Dallas Cowboys (2015), and Washington Redskins (2015).
Agnew signed an NFL free-agent contract with the Green Bay Packers in 2015 but was forced to end his playing career due to injury. He earned his bachelor’s degree from SIU in radio, television, and digital media with a minor in marketing following the 2015 spring semester.
Agnew and his wife, Amanda, were married in April of 2017 and now reside in Sacramento with their dog Skye.
