Nate Sheppard announces return to Duke football in 2026
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Duke football‘s top running back is officially returning for the 2026 season.
Nate Sheppard announced he will be returning to coach Manny Diaz and co on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
“Run it back,” a post the freshman made on X read.
It comes after Sheppard set both the Duke freshman single-season rushing and touchdown records, rushing for 1,132 yards and 11 scores in 2025. Sheppard’s season-high rushing yards came in the Sun Bowl win over Arizona State, where he ran for 170 yards. He recorded three 100-yard rushing performances during the 2025 season.
A Mandeville, Louisiana native, Sheppard enrolled at Duke in January 2025 as a three-star prospect per 247Sports. It did not take long for him to rise through the ranks, becoming the program’s first true freshman to start at running back since 2010 against Syracuse on Sept. 27. He rushed for a then-career-high 168 yards against the Orange.
Sheppard combined with quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate to form the first 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver trio in program history. With Sheppard’s announcement, all three are set to return for the Blue Devils in 2026.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Nate Sheppard returning for Duke football in 2026 season
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