AJ Steward | Baylor University

AJ Steward is in his first year as Baylor's assistant head coach and running backs coach. He was announced on Jan. 17, 2023. 

Steward joins the Bears’ coaching staff after spending the last two seasons at Oregon State in the same role. He has also had previous stops at Arizona (2020), BYU (2018-19) and Rice (2014-17). A former Kansas tight end, Steward opened his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Rice in 2012-13 before taking on the running backs coaching role for the Owls. 

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Steward spent the last two seasons coaching the tailbacks at Oregon State, helping the Beavers to a 10-3 season and a 30-3 win over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl. OSU reached the 10-win mark for just the third time in its history and the first time since 2006, finishing the year ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches’ polls, checking in No. 14 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. 

 

The Beavers ended the season winning four consecutive and seven of their last eight games. Steward led an elite running backs unit that saw three backs rush for over 400 yards. First-Team All-Pac 12 selection Damien Martinez totaled 982 yards on the ground with seven TDs, Deshaun Fenwich toted it 114 times for 553 yards and seven scores and Jam Griffin had 488 yards rushing and four TDs. 

 

“AJ is a great addition to our coaching staff, and we are excited to bring him and his wife Virginia to Waco,” Aranda said. “AJ has quickly developed a reputation as one of the top running back coaches in the nation, and as a tireless and skilled recruiter who has a great feel for the state of Texas. AJ is man of faith who places tremendous value in person over player. I have no doubt he will be a tremendous leader within our program.”

 

Martinez, recruited to Oregon State as a three-star recruit out of Lewisville, Texas, earned First-Team Freshman All-America honors from The Athletic in his first year working with Steward. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, was a three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week selection and tied the program standard with six straight 100+ yard rushing performances in 2022. 

 

It was the second-straight elite running back unit led by Steward, as his group was led by the Pac-12 leading rusher, B.J. Baylor in 2021. Baylor rushed for 1,337 yards in 2021 to earn All-Pac 12 first-team accolades and honorable mention All-America honors. Under his guidance, the Beavers set program records with 5.3 yards per rush and 6.4 yards per play.

 

Steward spent the 2020 season as the running backs coach at Arizona, where the Wildcats rushed for over 156 yards per game during a COVID-19 shortened season. He helped guide Gary Brightwell to a sixth-round selection in the NFL Draft. 

 

Working under Grimes at BYU in 2018-19, serving as the running backs coach. The Cougs rushed for 52 total TDs in his two seasons, as Grimes implanted his “RVO” offense to great aplomb with the assistance of Steward. BYU had five different players go for 100 or more rushing yards in a game over the two seasons, averaging nearly 160 rushing yards per game in each of his seasons. He helped guide the Cougars to the 2019 Hawaii Bowl and the 2018 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. 

 

In 2019, Steward mentored a pair of graduate transfers at running back for the Cougars, including Ty’Son Williams and Emmanuel Esukpa. The duo helped combine with others in a talented room to total over 2,000 rushing yards for the first time since 2016, going for 4.4 yards per carry with 25 total TDs.

 

Steward coached at Rice from 2012-17, serving as the graduate assistant from 2012-13 before taking over as the full-time running backs coach for the 2014 season. In 2017, Rice ranked in the nation’s top 40, averaging 187 rushing yards per game, with Nahshon Ellerbe and Austin Walter combining for 10 rushing scores and 5.3 yards per carry.

 

He mentored Rice running backs Darik Dillard and Jowan Davis, who combined for 4,226 yards and 36 TDs in their careers, both ranking among the top-10 rushers in program history. In 2015, he had four backs go for at least one 100+ yard rushing effort, a first in Rice history. Samuel Stewart and Austin Walter earned Conference USA All-Freshman Team honors and helped guide the Owls to the Armed Forces Bowl, the Liberty Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl. While he was a graduate assistant in 2013, Steward helped Charles Ross lead C-USA in rushing with 1,280 yards and 15 TDs. 

 

Steward was a four-year letterwinner at Kansas, where he was recruited as a quarterback, moved to wide receiver and eventually to tight end. He played in 37 career games, with five catches for 31 yards and three tackles. He was named the Scout Team Player of the Year for the Jayhawks during their 2007 Orange Bowl season.

 

A four-time member of the Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll, he earned his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Kansas in 2012 and will be joined in Waco by his wife, Virginia and their two boys, AJ (4) and Jaxon (1).