Rashard Alston enters his second season on the South Carolina State Bulldogs football staff as the Running Backs Coach.
In 2024, Alston's unit showcased both efficiency and toughness, averaging an impressive 5.1 yards per carry. The Bulldogs rushed for 1,310 yards on 257 attempts, with a remarkable 971 of those yards coming after contact—highlighting the physicality and resilience of his backs.
Under his guidance, three running backs—KZ Adams, Tyler Smith, and Deondra Duehart—each recorded 100-yard games. The backfield depth was on full display, as five different players found the end zone throughout the season. KZ Adams capped the year with a standout performance, scoring three touchdowns in the final regular season game.
Alston comes to Bulldog Country from Bluefield State University where he served as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach for the 2023 season. In his previous role as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach at Bluefield State University, Alston led the Big Blue Offense to remarkable improvements in 2023. Under his guidance, total offense increased by an impressive 850 yards, and total touchdowns saw a significant boost of 10. The passing game flourished, with an increase of over 700 yards and 10 more passing touchdowns. His ability to nurture talent is evident in the success of his quarterbacks. He mentored two true freshman quarterbacks, Jai'Que Hart and Isiah Teal, who led the offense to become the #2 passing offense in the CIAA. Hart made history with a school-record 5 TD passes in his first career start, earning him the CIAA Conference Player of the Week honor.
Despite an injury to Hart, Teal stepped up and shattered records with an incredible performance against Lincoln University. He threw for 442 yards and 5 TDs in just one half, setting new school records for total offense in a game and passing yards in a game. Teal's exceptional play earned him All-CIAA honors and the prestigious CIAA Rookie of the Year title. He finished #17 in the nation in completions per game with 18.83 per game and #24 in the nation in passing yards per game with 236.5 per game.
Alston's impact extends beyond individual players. Under his leadership, the Big Blue Offense excelled in 4th down conversions, ranking 1st in the CIAA in both conversion percentage and total conversions. His wide receivers also made their mark, with 5 of them securing spots in the top 20 of the CIAA for both receptions and receiving touchdowns.
In 2022 Alston served as Associate Head Coach and Co-offensive Coordinator where he coached the Wide Receivers in an explosive passing attack. In that time Alston coached 4 different receivers to multiple 100-yard or 2 touchdown outings. Under Alston’s tutelage 3 Big Blue Wideouts finished top 25 in Division II statistical categories. True freshmen deep threat duo Khyon Smith and Timothy Henderson finished #4 and #19 in the nation in yards per reception. Sophomore Summerville, SC native Perry Wilder III finished #9 in the nation in receptions per game breaking a school record with 13 receptions in the opener vs. now conference rival Johnson C. Smith University. The Goose Creek, SC native, Khyon Smith, had a few career days of his own, one of which where he broke the school record for receiving yards in a game with 194 yards in a dominating individual performance against Central State University.
Alston Joined the Big Blue staff in 2021 as the Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator where he also was named Director of Football Operations. He then went on to help build the roster for the first Bluefield State Football team to touch the field since 1980.
Prior to Bluefield State University, he served as an Offensive Graduate Assistant at Hastings College. There he coached the Wide Receivers for two seasons from 2018-2020. Coaching a receiver to All-Conference Honors both years. Rashard also coached Receiver Keiotey Stenhouse, who not only was the first Wide Receiver to be named to an All-Conference team in over 10 years for the Hastings College Broncos but also broke a school record with 12 receptions in a game in 2019.
Prior to his stint at Hastings College, Rashard was the running backs coach and run game coordinator at North Charleston High School in South Carolina. There he was given the play-calling duties from the midpoint to the end of the season.
Before starting his coaching career, Alston played running back for a season, before transferring over to the linebacker spot at Newberry College from 2013 to 2017. In his time at Newberry, the Wolves made 3 playoff appearances including an undefeated conference schedule and a conference championship in 2016.
In 2014 Alston, was selected to compete for the USA Football U19 team in the IFAF World Cup in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The team won games against Japan, Germany, Mexico, and Canada on the way to bringing home the Gold Medal.
