Joe Blackwell enters his second season on the football staff at NSU. Blackwell, who was hired as tight ends coach prior to the 2010 season, was named interim offensive coordinator after handling play-calling duties for the final four games of the year.
In the four games in which Blackwell served as the primary play-caller last year, the Spartans averaged 30 points and 436.3 yards per game en route to a 4-0 record. The Spartans’ late-season charge also helped running back DeAngelo Branche became the school’s all-time leading rusher after recording 1,330 yards in 2010, second-most for a single season in school history. Branche ran for 631 yards in the last four games to surge into the record books.
Blackwell spent six seasons at South Carolina State, one of NSU’s MEAC rivals, from 2004-09. He assisted in the Bulldogs’ back-to-back MEAC championship seasons in 2008 and 2009, and was also on staff as the Bulldogs shared the 2004 MEAC crown with Hampton.
After serving as tight ends coach his first two seasons in Orangeburg, Blackwell assumed the role of offensive line coach and offensive coordinator for his last four seasons there. Blackwell directed one of the conference’s most potent units. Under his tutelage, SCSU players have won the last four MEAC Offensive Lineman of the Year awards. Since 2006, the Bulldogs finished no worse than second in the conference in total offense, including three straight years (2006-08) where they finished first. The Bulldogs also paced the conference in rushing offense in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 and 2005, the SCSU offensive line topped the MEAC in fewest sacks allowed.
Blackwell coach nine first-team All-MEAC offensive linemen the last four seasons who helped pave the way for running back William Ford to become the MEAC’s all-time leading rusher. Ford (’08) and DeShawn Baker (’06) earned MEAC Offensive Player of the Year honors while running behind the Bulldogs’ line.
Prior to joining the Bulldogs coaching staff, Blackwell spent a year at Newberry College in Newberry, S.C., and one season at Pikeville College in Pikeville, Ky. At Newberry, Blackwell served as the team’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. During his stint at Pikeville, Blackwell was linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
He also spent a decade in the high school coaching ranks, where he assisted some of the top programs in the state of South Carolina. Blackwell was an assistant on Camden High School’s 2001 Class AAA state championship team. He spent four years at Camden High and served six seasons as the offensive line coach at Berea High School.
A native of Greenville, S.C., Blackwell was a two-year letterwinner at linebacker while attending North Greenville College. He and his wife, Jami, are the parents of three children – son Chanston and two daughters, Maggie and Mackinley Jane.
