Hampton University Athletics

Charles W. Bankins is entering his sixth season as the running backs coach for the Hampton University Pirates. In his second stint with the program, Bankins spent the 2005 season as the assistant special teams coach with the St. Louis Rams, helping them improve from an NFL low of a 32nd ranking to number 17 by season’s end.

Coach Bankins made an immediate impact with the Pirates backfield upon his arrival in 2000. During that season, he guided Montrell Coley to a record shattering season in which Coley won the Division 1-AA scoring title with 172 total points, led the MEAC in rushing with 1,582 yards and became Hampton University’s all-time leading rusher. Coley ended his Hampton career by breaking nine school records and participating in the 2001 Hula Bowl where he scored the final touchdown of the contest. The Hampton University backfield was also represented in the 2003 Super Bowl as Darian Barnes, another Bankins product, started at fullback for the World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In his most recent season at Hampton (2004), Bankins directed Pirate running backs Alonzo Coleman and Ardell Daniels as they became the only pair of backs in Division I-AA to each rush for more than 1,000 yards. The duo repeated that performance a year later, marking just the third time ever that a pair of running backs each surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in consecutive seasons.

Prior to his appointment with the Pirates, Coach Bankins served as the wide receivers/tight ends coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. During his stay at IUP, Bankins helped to steer the Indians to the 1999 Division II Northeast Regional Championship and a trip to the Division II Semifinals. Two of his players were named all-conference and the Baltimore Ravens signed his tight end as a free agent. Bankins went to IUP after spending the 1998 season at his alma mater, James Madison University, where he coached the wide receivers.

Before his stint at James Madison, Bankins mentored the wide receivers at Eastern Kentucky during the 1997 campaign. The Colonels ended the season with an 8-3 record and an Ohio Valley Conference Championship. Two of his receivers were named to All-OVC, including a future Atlanta Falcons’ seventh round selection and a third round draft pick by the Seattle Seahawks.

Coach Bankins earned his bachelor’s degree in speech communication with a minor in political science from James Madison University in 1994 and received his master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University in sports administration in 1998. He lettered as a running back at JMU. After graduation, Bankins worked as a marketing coordinator for the JMU athletic department and coached at Leonardtown (MD) High School before moving on to Eastern Kentucky. He has worked numerous camps, including those at the Ohio State University and the University of Maryland. Bankins spent the 2002 summer as a minority-coaching intern for the Green Bay Packers and was recently named to the 2004 NCAA Expert Coaching Academy.

Bankins is married to Dr. Katrina L. Brown and they reside in Hampton.