Louisiana native and Assistant Head Coach Jabbar Juluke enters his fourth year as a member of the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns football staff. He will continue to guide the team’s running backs.
Coaching one of the nation’s elite running back tandems of Elijah Mitchell and Trey Ragas, Juluke saw the Ragin' Cajuns produce the 21st-best rushing offense (213.0) in the country.
Mitchell, who earned First Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors in 2020, led Louisiana in rushing, toting the ball 141 times for 878 yards and eight touchdowns. His yardage total was third in the league and 23rd nationally, while his eight rushing scores were the fifth most in the Sun Belt and tied for 41st nationally.
He finished his career ranked fifth in career rushing touchdowns (41) and sixth in career rushing yards (3,267) and set the program record for most rushing yards in a bowl game after tallying 127 yards and a touchdown in the 2020 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.
Mitchell was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft, taken in the Sixth Round with the 194th overall pick.
Ragas picked up Second Team All-Conference recognition in his final season with the team and ended his career with the third most rushing yards (3,572) and sixth most rushing touchdowns (38) in program history.
During the 2020 season, he finished second on the team with 758 rushing yards and 10 rushing scores. His rushing total ranked fifth in the Sun Belt and tied for 37th nationally, while his 10 scores were the fourth most in the league and tied for 22nd nationally.
Ragas signed an undrafted rookie free agent deal with the Las Vegas Raiders following the 2021 NFL Draft.
The team’s number three back last season, Chris Smith, earned multiple All-America honors, including First Team recognition from Pro Football Focus and CBS Sports/247 Sports, as a return specialist. Smith returned 23 kicks for 617 yards and two scores, making him one of four players nationally with a two return scores.
In his role as a running back under Juluke, he toted the ball 62 times for 359 yards and one touchdown, while leading all running backs with 16 catches for 170 receiving yards and a score.
After the conclusion of the 2019 season, Juluke was named the 2019 FootballScoop Running Backs Coach of the Year after leading Louisiana’s backs to the best rushing season in program history. Throughout the course of the year, the team broke school records in total rushing yards (3,604) and rushing touchdowns (42).
By the end of the year, the team ranked third nationally in yards per rush (6.28), third nationally in total rushing touchdowns and sixth in total rushing yards, and helping the Louisiana offense rank.
Juluke coached three, 800+-yard running backs this year, paced by Mitchell, who ran for 1,147 yards on the ground to become the sixth player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-yard threshold, and Ragas, who carried the ball 116 times for 820 yards.
He also tutored Raymond Calais, who finished his senior season with 886 rushing yards on 117 carries and six touchdowns before being selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 245th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Mitchell, Calais and Ragas all earned All-Sun Belt Conference recognition, while Mitchell earned First Team All-Louisiana honors.
Louisiana’s running backs found extreme success under Juluke in 2018, rushing for over 3,000 yards as a unit and combining for 28 touchdowns. Under his watch, three different backs were named to All-Conference teams, including a Second Team nod for Mitchell and Third Team honors for Ragas.
Each member of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ three-headed rushing monster contributed in a different way in 2018, with Ragas leading the charge with 1,149 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns. Mitchell led the Sun Belt and ranked 14th in FBS with 16 touchdowns after rushing for 985 yards of his own, while Calais tallied 754 yards and seven scores, highlighted by a school-record, 92-yard touchdown scamper against Georgia State.
Juluke came Louisiana from Texas Tech where he served as the Associate Head Coach/Running Backs coach. The Red Raiders averaged 140.9 yards per game on the ground in 2017 as the offensive averaged 34.3 points per game.
Prior to his time at Texas Tech, Juluke spent the 2016 season as the running backs coach at LSU under Les Miles. Juluke tutored one of the nation’s top running backs while with the Tigers in Leonard Fournette, who battled through several injuries to rush for 843 yards and eight touchdowns over seven games. Fournette, the No. 5 overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, still managed to earn second team All-SEC honors despite being limited through portions of conference play.
In Fournette’s absence, Juluke mentored Derrius Guice, pushing the sophomore to 1,428 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground as LSU’s primary option out of the back field. Guice, who was named to the All-SEC first team, rushed for at least 250 yards twice during the 2016 campaign, becoming just the second player in SEC history to reach the mark multiple times in a single season.
Guice snapped the LSU single-game record with 285 rushing yards in the regular-season finale against Texas A&M, breaking the previous mark that was just set a few weeks earlier by Fournette, who totaled 284 yards on the ground versus Ole Miss. LSU concluded the 2016 season ranked 21st nationally in rushing offense as the Tigers averaged 233.0 yards per game on the ground.
Juluke began his college coaching career at Louisiana Tech where he helped push the Bulldogs to consecutive nine-win seasons and back-to-back postseason victories in the 2015 New Orleans Bowl and the 2014 Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl. It marked the first time Louisiana Tech had won back-to-back bowl games in school history.
Under Juluke’s direction, Kenneth Dixon became one of the most prolific running backs in NCAA history. Dixon, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, ended his Louisiana Tech career as the NCAA’s all-time leader among running backs for career total touchdowns (87), points scored (522) and games played with a touchdown (38).
Juluke coached Dixon for each of his final three seasons of his illustrious career which featured 3,410 rushing yards and 53 rushing touchdowns, both of which were school records. During his senior season alone, Dixon led the nation in scoring (14.2 points per game) and ranked second in touchdowns scored (26) for a Louisiana Tech offense that averaged 37.5 points per game.
Louisiana Tech combined to rush for 2,075 yards during Juluke’s final season in Ruston as the Bulldogs ranked 19th nationally in scoring offense and 21st in total offense (482.8 yards per game). His staple of running backs contributed at least 1,900 rushing yards each season during his tenure which also featured a Conference USA West Division title in 2014.
In addition to his role as running backs coach, Juluke was heavily involved in Louisiana Tech’s recruiting efforts where he helped haul in eventual 2017 NFL Draft picks in wide receivers Carlos Henderson (3rd Round: Denver Broncos) and Trent Taylor (5th Round; San Francisco 49ers) as well as safety Xavier Woods (6th Round; Dallas Cowboys).
Juluke arrived at Louisiana Tech following nine years as the head coach at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans. Juluke was regarded as one of Louisiana’s top high school coaches during that time as he compiled an 80-39 record that was capped by a perfect 14-0 mark and a Class 4A state title in 2012.
Juluke guided Edna Karr to seven district titles and two state runner-up finishes during his tenure. He boasted a 49-8 record over his final four seasons alone which featured three appearances in the state championship game. Most impressively, Juluke helped over 70 of his players earn college football scholarships during his head coaching career.
Prior to his stint at Edna Karr, Juluke served as the defensive coordinator for four years at nearby Frederick Douglas High School (1999-03) in New Orleans and was the wide receivers coach at Brother Martin High School (1998) for one year before that.
Juluke began his coaching career as an assistant coach at McKinley High School in 1995 before moving to O.P. Walker High School in New Orleans the following year. He later spent two seasons at St. Augustine High School (1996-97) as linebackers coach.
As a player, Juluke helped guide Southern University to an 11-1 record and a Black National Championship in 1993. In addition to his time as a standout safety for the Jaguars, Juluke also lettered one season with the men’s basketball program during the 1994-95 campaign. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern in 1999.
Juluke and his wife, Denise, are parents to three children – Jahmad, Jamari and Dyrius Smith.
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