Matt Stansfield is in his fifth season as run game coordinator and offensive line/tight ends coach. A former player and coach at Duquesne, he returned to his alma mater after serving as offensive coordinator at Waynesburg for four seasons.
Duquesne, which has ranked among the Top 50 nationally in rushing offense in each of the past five seasons, has seen five backs combine to post 33 100-yard games since Stansfield's return to The Bluff.
Last season, running back A.J. Hines capped his standout career becoming the program's all-time leading rusher with 4,629 career rushing yards. The running back earned his fourth consecutive All-NEC award, sharing the backfield with fellow All-NEC selection Mark Allen. The pair became the first two running backs to garner All-NEC honors in the same season since the Dukes joined the conference in 2008.
A big part of the the Duquesne duo's success running the ball was the Dukes' offensive line, keyed by All-NEC picks Sterling Jenkins and Gabe Spurlock. Stansfield and the Duquesne O-line ranked 26th in the country with the fewest sacks allowed at 1.55 per game.
In 2018, Stansfield and the Dukes' running game enjoyed a standout campaign which saw Duquesne claim its fifth NEC crown, as the Dukes earned their second Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoff berth and won their first FCS Playoff contest in program history.
Running back A.J. Hines garnered NEC Offensive Player of the Year honors and was recognized as a finalist for the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award for the top offensive player at the FCS level. He closed out the season third in the country in rushing yards and sixth in the nation in rushing touchdowns, tallying a program-record six-straight 100-yard rushing performances during a six-game winning streak for Duquesne.
Hines - who has earned three straight First Team All-NEC nods with three 1,000-yard seasons in a row - enters his senior season in 2019 as the FCS active leader in career rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
Stansfield also coached a pair of All-NEC performers on the offensive line in Alex Conley and Matt Fitzpatrick, who helped pave the way for Hines' 20 100-yard rushing games over the last three seasons.
Additionally under Stansfield's guidance, tight end Stew Allen finished with five touchdown receptions on the season.
In 2017, the Dukes paced the NEC in rushing offense (198.5 ypg.) keyed by Hines, who posted his second consecutive 1,000-yard season.
In 2016, Hines ran for 100 yards seven times on his way to winning the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award.
Prior to returning to Duquesne, Stansfield guided Waynesburg's offense to new heights, as the team averaged over 400 yards per game in 2014. In 2013, Waynesburg averaged 387.3 yards per game, including a 283.8 ypg. through the air. The 2012 offense featured a physical running attack that averaged a conference-best 201.9 yards per game while allowing just five quarterback sacks all season.
Prior to his appointment at Waynesburg, Stansfield was Duquesne's running backs coach and run game coordinator from 2009-11.
In 2011, Duquesne (9-2) rushed for an average of 212.8 yards per game - a mark that led the NEC and ranked 15th nationally. Then-junior Larry McCoy spearheaded the ground game with 1,381 yards. McCoy's 117.4 yards rushing per game ranked 11th nationally.
Prior to his stint at Duquesne, Stansfield spent one year (2008) at Howard University, where he worked with the school's defensive line.
Stansfield played center for Duquesne from 2003-07, where he was a member of five MAAC championship teams. The Meadville native, who served as a team captain as a senior, earned all-MAAC honors in 2006 & 2007. He was a Don Hansen honorable mention FCS Mid-Major All-American in 2006.
Stansfield graduated from Duquesne in 2007 with a degree in accounting. He added an MBA from his alma mater in 2010 and completed a second master's degree in education at Waynesburg in 2015.
Stansfield, who was a three-year starter at Meadville High School, resides in Pittsburgh with his wife Jamie.
