The lone position coach opening on Duke’s football coaching staff will be filled by a coach who’s spent a lot of time in the state of North Carolina already.

Chris Foster will be hired as Duke’s running backs coach. The news was first reported by Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and has been confirmed to Devils Illustrated by program source.

Foster has been Northwestern’s running backs coach for the past two seasons. He joined the Wildcats from East Carolina, where he was running backs coach and recruiting coordinator for two seasons.

Foster’s experience in North Carolina doesn’t end there; he was running backs coach at Appalachian State from 2012-14, and was running backs coach at Gardner-Webb — his alma mater — from 2004-12. He’s a 2003 alum of Gardner-Webb and finished his playing career ranked sixth in the program’s history for rushing yards.

He also coached running backs at Georgia Southern (2016-21) and Maryville College (Tenn., 2015).

Duke had an opening at running backs coach because of the departure of Willie Simmons. He left to become the head coach at Florida International University (FIU).