Ron Gould enters his third season with the Los Angeles Rams as the running backs coach. He joined the Rams after spending six seasons at Stanford leading the running backs.
Gould has 35 seasons of coaching experience, including four as a head coach at UC Davis and 24 years working in the Pac-12 Conference.
During his career, Gould has mentored some of the game's elite running backs, including Rams All-Pro and Pro Bowler Kyren Williams, and coached Super Bowl champions such as Marshawn Lynch, C.J. Anderson and Shane Vereen. Anderson spent time with the Rams in 2018 and appeared in Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots.
Gould also mentored college standouts Bryce Love and J.J. Arrington, as well as NFL players such as Jahvid Best and Justin Forsett. He has coached a total of eight Pro Bowl selections, three First-Team All-America picks, and six First-Team all-conference honorees. Five of the past eleven Super Bowls have featured a running back whom Gould has coached.
During the 2024 season with the Rams, Gould helped the rushing attack finish 14th in rushing first downs (119) and tie for 15th in rushing touchdowns (14). With consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons, Williams became the first Rams running back to accomplish the feat since Todd Gurley in 2017 and 2018. He built on is All-Pro season and record career-highs in rushing yards (1,299) and rushing touchdowns (14). Williams became the sixth Rams running back to record 14 rushing touchdowns in a season and the first since Gurley in 2018. He rushed for at least 60 yards in 12 consecutive games (Weeks 3-15) and passed Eric Dickerson (11 games) for the longest streak of 60+ rushing yard games in franchise history. Williams has recorded 31 scrimmage touchdowns since Week 1 of the 2023 season, the most across the NFL over that span.
During his first season in the NFL in 2023, the Rams finished ranked 11th in rushing yards (2,045), 12th in yards per rush attempt (4.3), eighth in rushing touchdowns (18) and 11th in tackles avoided on rushes (89). It was the first time the Rams rushed for 2,045 or more yards since the 2018 campaign.
Under Gould's leadership, Williams finished third in the NFL in rushing yards (1,144), sixth in yards per rush (5.0) and tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns (12) despite missing four games due to injury. It was the first time Williams eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in his NFL career and he was the first Rams running back to do so since Todd Gurley in 2018. Additionally, with 12 rushing touchdowns on the season, Williams tied Gurley, Wendell Tyler, Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk for the seventh-most rushing touchdowns in a single season in franchise history.
Before joining Sean McVay's staff, Gould spent six seasons at Stanford where he guided Bryce Love to a record-breaking season in 2017. Love set the school's single-season rushing record (2,118), single-game rushing record (301), and was named the 2017 Doak Walker Award winner. Love also was the Lombardi Award winner and Heisman Trophy runner-up as a junior. He set Stanford records for rush average (6.79) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (nine). The Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and unanimous All-American finished with the fourth-most rushing yards and fifth-most touchdowns in school history. Love was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by Washington.
Prior to joining Stanford, Gould was the head coach at UC Davis from 2013-16. During his time as head coach, the Aggies posted the Big Sky Conference's highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) from the NCAA all four years. Gould helped guide Gabe Manzanares to record the program's best rushing total (1,285 yards) in more than a decade during the 2013 season. Manzanares won Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors and ranked among the conference and FCS leaders in several statistical categories.
Gould coached the running backs for 16 years at California from 1997-2012 and was eventually promoted to associate head coach in 2008 and had added responsibilities as run game coordinator in 2011. Gould developed several of the top running backs at Cal including NFL players such as Lynch, Arrington, Best, Vereen, Adimchinobe Echemandu, Forsett, Tarik Smith and Will Ta'ufo'ou. Other players who worked with Gould and later signed NFL contracts include Chris Manderino and Byron Storer. Nine of the program's top 11 individual rushing seasons and six of Cal's all-time top rushers were coached by Gould.
Marshawn Lynch was the 2006 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, J.J. Arrington was eighth in the 2006 Heisman Trophy voting after leading the country with 2,018 rushing yards, and Jahvid Best was a two-time All-Pac 12 First-Team selection. Both Lynch and Best were first-round picks in the NFL Draft, while Arrington and Vereen were second-round selections.
He was a candidate for the 2010 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Assistant Coach of the Year Award and participated in NFL internships with the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams.
Following his college graduation, Gould began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Oregon, from 1990-91. He also coached the defensive backs at Portland State in 1992 and at Boise State from 1993-96.
A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, Gould played defensive back at Scottsdale Community College from 1984-85 before earning a scholarship to Wichita State. When the Shockers discontinued their football program, Gould chose to play at Oregon where he earned his bachelor's degree in human services.
Gould and his wife, Teresa, have two sons Tevin and Trae.
