Joseph Blackwell enters his third season as the offensive coordinator at Alabama State after a stint as the offensive coordinator at South Carolina State at the collegiate ranks, and a pair of high schools on the East Coast.
Last season, the offense averaged 23.8 points per game and 355.8 yards of total offense. The Hornets had quarterback Ryan Nettles named the SWAC Freshman of the Year and was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, while Ezra Gray led the conference in rushing. During the 2019 season, the Alabama State offense averaged 22.6 points per game and 325.1 yards of total offense. The Hornets averaged 113.0 yards per game on the ground, while also averaging 212.09 yards per game through the air. Under Blackwell, KHA’Darrius Davis throw for nearly 2,100 yards and 21 touchdowns, while Michael Jefferson recorded one of the best years in school history with 12 touchdown receptions.
The veteran spent the last two seasons at a pair of high schools, most notably as the assistant head coach at Camden where the school set a record for points and yardage, and was also the offensive coordinator at
Irmo High School.
Prior to his stint in the high school ranks, Blackwell returned to the South Carolina State staff in 2013 for his second tour after serving a two-year stint as interim offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Norfolk State University. He handled the primary signal-calling duties along with overseeing the offensive line for the Bulldogs.
While at Norfolk State, Blackwell served as the primary play-caller in 2010, when the Spartans averaged 30 points and 436.3 yards per game en route to a 4-0 record to end the season. The Spartans’ late season charge also helped running back
DeAngelo Branche become 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. In 2011, Blackwell helped the Spartans to their first-ever
MEAC Championship and coached both the
MEAC Player of the Year and the Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Prior to joining the Spartans, Blackwell spent six seasons at South Carolina State, where 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. Blackwell directed one of the conference’s most potent units. Under his tutelage,
SCSU players won four consecutive
MEAC Offensive Lineman of the Year awards.
Between 2006 and 2009, the Bulldogs finished no worse than second in the conference in total offense, including three straight years (2006-08) when they finished first. The Bulldogs also paced the conference in rushing offense in 2006 and 2007. In 2005 and 2008, the
SCSU offensive line topped the
MEAC in fewest sacks allowed.
During his career, Blackwell coached 11 First-Team
All-MEAC offensive linemen and had players earn Offensive Lineman of the Year honors in 2006-2009, 2011 and 2013. He also coached
MEAC Offensive Player of the Year winners in 2006, 2008 and 2011.
In each season that Blackwell has been an offensive coordinator in the
MEAC, his teams have won the conference title. He is 34-2 in four seasons as an offensive coordinator and won championships in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Blackwell’s Bulldog linemen helped pave the way for running back William Ford to become the
MEAC’s all-time leading rusher. Ford (2008) and
Deshawn Baker (2006) 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 time at
Pikeville, Blackwell was the 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 letter winner at linebacker while attending North Greenville College. He and his wife, Jami, are the parents of three children – son
Chanston and daughters, Maggie and
Mackinley Jane, and they have three grandchildren.
