Rapheal Dowdye Running Backs Coach First Season at NU: 2004 Alma Mater: West Virginia Wesleyan '96

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Rapheal Dowdye is in his sixth season on the Northeastern coaching staff and he returns to the offensive side of the ball as the running backs coach. Dowdye was NU's running backs coach in 2004, when the Huskies finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 in rushing offense. Dowdye spent the 2008 season as the defensive coordinator, coaching a pair of All-Conference honorees in Phil Higgins and Nate Thellen. Dowdye served as defensive backs coach from 2004-08, and for the last three seasons, he has worked closely with Thellen, who has developed into one of the best secondary players in CAA Football. He was named third-team All-CAA Football and led the team in interceptions in 2008. Dowdye's guidance in the secondary has helped produce three All-Conference players: Thellen, Richard Orah and Lamar Gay. Prior to his arrival at NU, Dowdye, 35, spent four seasons coaching at Brown, two as the cornerbacks coach and two as coach of the running backs. Dowdye mentored a young running back named Nick Hartigan, who went on to become the school’s all-time leading rusher. He had two coaching stints at his alma mater, West Virginia Wesleyan, the first in 1996 immediately following his graduation. In 1997, he took a job as the defensive backs coach at Bethany College in West Virginia, before returning for two seasons to West Virginia Wesleyan. In his second stint with the Bobcats, he helped lead the team to back-to-back top 10 national rankings in pass defense. Off the field, Dowdye was an academic liaison to prospective student-athletes and an intercultural liaison to minority student-athletes. Dowdye was a four-year starter at cornerback for West Virginia Wesleyan and was named All-Conference three times. He also starred for the Bobcats in track & field as an All-America sprinter. He graduated from WVWC in 1996 with a degree in Business Management and Economics. Dowdye is a local product, as he grew up in Boston and attended Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. Dowdye, who was selected to participate in the 2007 NCAA Men’s Football Coaches Academy, currently resides in Providence, R.I.