What Manny Diaz said about Nate Sheppard, Duke football's 2026 RB room
Duke football coach Manny Diaz is optimistic about the Blue Devils' running back room, led by record-setting Nate Sheppard, for the 2026 season.
One year after Nate Sheppard set both the Duke football freshman single-season rushing and touchdown records, head coach Manny Diaz feels the Blue Devils running back room is poised for more in 2026. Sheppard is undoubtedly a huge return for Duke's running back room and offense, which suffered blows with the transfers of quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate to Miami. The trio was the first 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver trio in program history.
Sheppard, a Mandeville, Louisiana, native, rushed for 1,132 yards and 11 scores in 2025 during his freshman campaign. He is set to build on that in 2026 with some new pieces around him. "Nate Sheppard had a phenomenal winter," Diaz said in a March 17 media availability.
"The thing you always have to wonder with a person, any player in any position who had the success that that Nate had as a true freshman is, will they be satisfied, right? Or will they be hungry for more? And really, the (way) Nate's wired is he wants so much more.
" Sheppard's season-high rushing yards came in Duke 's 2025 finale: the Sun Bowl win over Arizona State, where he ran for 170 yards and one touchdown. Sheppard recorded three 100-yard rushing performances during the 2025 season. "There's a funny play in the Sun Bowl where we got down to the 1-yard line in the second half in the third quarter.