Thomas Hammock is in his fifth year as the Ravens' running backs coach. In 2017, he helped guide RB Alex Collins to a breakout season, when the young back tallied 973 rushing yards and 1,160 yards from scrimmage, adding 6 TDs. Collins' 4.6-yard rushing average ranked fourth among NFL RBs who posted over 200 carries. In 2016, RB Terrance West produced his best year as a pro after rushing for a team- and career-high 774 rushing yards and 5 TDs, while rookie RB Kenneth Dixon averaged a team-best 4.3 yards per carry (88 rushes for 382 yards and 2 TDs). FB Kyle Juszczyk, who led the NFL in catches (37) and receiving yards (266) by a fullback, earned his first Pro Bowl nod under Hammock's guidance. In 2014, the Ravens ranked eighth in the NFL with 126.2 rushing yards per game. RB Justin Forsett earned his first Pro Bowl after he produced a career-high 1,266 rushing yards (NFL's fifth most) and led the league in runs of 20-plus yards (a team-record 17). Forsett's franchise-record 5.4 yards-per-carry average ranked first among NFL RBs.
ADDITIONAL coaching highlights: Prior to joining the Ravens, Hammock spent 11 years on the collegiate coaching circuit, including the final three (2011-13) as the University of Wisconsin's assistant head coach/running backs/recruiting coordinator. During that 11-year span, Hammock twice coached the country's leading rusher: In 2011, he guided Wisconsin RB Montee Ball to a nation-leading 1,923 rushing yards. While at his alma mater, Northern Illinois, he tutored RB Garrett Wolfe, who registered an NCAA-best 1,928 rushing yards (148.3 ypg) in 2006. Wolfe concluded his collegiate career as the NCAA's all-time leader in yards per carry (6.40 – minimum 780 rushes) and ranked fourth in career rushing (156.5 ypg), becoming one of four players in college football history to post at least 1,500 rushing yards in three different seasons. Ball was drafted in 2013 by the Broncos (second round) and Wolfe by the Bears in 2007 (third round). Prior to his time with the Badgers, Hammock coached at the University of Minnesota from 2007-10, serving as its RBs coach all four seasons and also as co-offensive coordinator in 2010. Hammock guided the RBs at Northern Illinois from 2005-06 following two years (2003-04) as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin.
2014-17: (with Baltimore) 2017: The Ravens' run game ranked No. 11 in the NFL (116.0 ypg), up from 2016's No. 28 mark...RB Alex Collins rushed for 973 yards and 6 TDs, with his 4.6 ypc average ranking fourth among NFL RBs (min. 200 carries). 2016: FB Kyle Juszczyk earned his first Pro Bowl nod after leading the NFL in catches (37) and receiving yards (266) by a fullback...RB Terrance West led the team with a career-high 774 rushing yards and 5 TDs...Rookie RB Kenneth Dixon finished with 382 rushing yards and 2 TDs. 2015: From 2014-15, Pro Bowl RB Justin Forsett led the NFL in rushes of 20-plus yards (22)...Forsett missed the final six games in 2015 with a broken arm, rushing for 641 yards before his injury...Rookie RB Javorius Allen tallied 514 yards (adding 353 receiving)...Team produced a franchise-low 383 rushing attempts, but RBs helped protect Ravens QBs, as Baltimore allowed the NFL's third-fewest sacks (24). 2014: In his first season with the Ravens, Hammock guided a rushing attack that returned to form, ranking eighth in the NFL with 126.2 rushing yards per game...Unit was led by Forsett, who produced a career-high 1,266 rushing yards (NFL's fifth most) and led the league in runs of 20-plus yards (a team-record 17)...Forsett, whose franchise-record 5.4 yards-per-carry average ranked first among NFL RBs, earned his first Pro Bowl in his initial season in Baltimore...Ravens pounded 16 rushing TDs, tying for NFL's fifth most...In addition, Baltimore RBs contributed 76 receptions in the passing game, and second-year fullback and first-year starter Juszczyk helped the Ravens allow the NFL's second-fewest sacks (19)...Baltimore set single-season records in scoring (409 points) and total offense (5,838 yards).
2011-13: (with Wisconsin) In three seasons as Wisconsin's running backs coach, the Badgers ranked third nationally in rushing yards per attempt (5.7), fourth in rushing touchdowns (121) and seventh in rushing yards per game (251.1), also leading the Big Ten in each of those categories...UW running backs also amassed 40 games with over 100 rushing yards, the most in the country during that span. 2013: Wisconsin ranked eighth nationally after averaging 283.8 rushing yards per game en route to rushing for a school-record 3,689 yards...The Badgers also set an NCAA high and school standard for individual 100-yard rushing performances in a season (20)...Despite losing RB Montee Ball to the NFL Draft, Wisconsin's running game continued to flourish behind senior RB James White, sophomore RB Melvin Gordon and true freshman RB Corey Clement...Gordon and White each earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, while Gordon was named a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award (nation's top player) and Doak Walker Award (top RB)...Clement added 547 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs...Gordon (1,609) and White (1,444) set the all-time NCAA record for rushing yards by a pair of teammates in a season, combining for 3,053 yards...The tandem made Wisconsin the nation's only team to produce multiple running backs that averaged more than 100 yards per game...(Gordon became the second all-time single-season rusher in FBS history with 2,587 yards in 2014.) 2012: Wisconsin rushed for 236.4 yards per game, the nation's 13th-best mark...Badgers were one of three teams in the nation with three backs who each rushed for over 550 yards...Ball became the NCAA's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (77) and won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back after producing 1,830 rushing yards (second in the NCAA in 2012) and 22 ground scores...Ball also earned his second-consecutive Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year award. 2011: In Hammock's first year coaching running backs at Wisconsin, the Badgers ranked 11th nationally after averaging 235.6 yards per contest...Hammock helped Ball lead the nation in rushing yards (1,923) and tie Barry Sanders' NCAA single-season TDs record (39), with Ball being named a Heisman Trophy finalist...Ball also earned the Big Ten's Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year Award and was a consensus first-team All-America selection.
2007-10: (with Minnesota) In 2010, after three seasons (2007-09) as running backs coach, Hammock was named the Gophers' co-offensive coordinator. 2010: Minnesota moved up 26 spots nationally in rushing and 34 spots in total offense...Took over play-calling duties for the final five contests following a mid-season coaching transition...Helped the team secure wins in its final two games, including its first rivalry win in four years, defeating Iowa for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy.
2005-06: (with Northern Illinois) Spent two seasons as NIU's RBs coach in his first full-time coaching role...Hammock guided Huskies RB Garrett Wolfe, who concluded his collegiate career as the NCAA's all-time leader in yards per carry (6.40 – minimum 780 rushes) and ranked fourth in career rushing (156.5 ypg)...Wolfe was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 2007 NFL Draft's third round and is one of four players in college football history to post at least 1,500 rushing yards in three different seasons. 2006: Wolfe registered an NCAA-best 1,928 rushing yards (148.3 ypg) and posted over 1,500 rushing yards for the third-consecutive season. 2005: Despite playing in only nine games, Wolfe rushed for 1,580 yards and 16 TDs in Hammock's first year guiding the running backs.
2003-04: (with Wisconsin) Served as an offensive graduate assistant in his first coaching role, helping guide the team to the Music City Bowl (2003) and Outback Bowl (2004).
College: Played running back at Northern Illinois and finished ninth on the school's all-time rushing list (2,432 yards)...Ran for 1,083 yards – the nation's 12th most – as a sophomore in 2000 and produced 1,095 rushing yards as a junior in 2001...Hammock's senior campaign was derailed due to a potentially life-threatening heart condition in 2002, and though he was forced to stop playing, he became a student coach for NIU, helping RB Michael Turner tally 1,915 rushing yards, which set a MAC single-season record.
Personal: Born in Jersey City, NJ, Hammock earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from Northern Illinois in 2002 and a master's in educational leadership and policy analysis from Wisconsin in 2004...He and his wife, Cheynnitha, have a daughter, Tierra (9), and a son, Thomas Douglas (5).
