Preston Mays was hired as NAU's running backs coach in January 2026 and enters his first season on the Lumberjack Football coaching staff.

Mays arrives in Flagstaff following six years at the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School in Colorado. Originally hired as running backs coach in 2019, Mays was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2021. In his four seasons as offensive coordinator, the team averaged 35 points per game.
 
While at the Air Force Academy Prep, Mays coached four players who would go on to play for the Air Force Academy including quarterbacks Quentin Hayes and John Busha, running back Lee Eldridge III and running back/linebacker Johnathan Youngblood.
 
Mays also has extensive high school coaching experience, including serving as head coach of the Youngstown East High School varsity team in Youngstown, Ohio from 2013-15.
 
Mays was a standout running back at Youngstown State from 2000-02 and was inducted into the Youngstown State Hall of Fame in 2012. Mays was a second team All-American as a senior in 2002 and two-time Missouri Valley Football Conference first team selection. The first Youngstown State player to be named MVFC Offensive Player of the Year in 2001, Mays rushed for 3,511 yards on 666 carries and scored 42 rushing touchdowns during an honorable mention All-American season. His final two seasons overlapped with current NAU head coach Brian Wright, who coached Youngstown State’s quarterbacks from 2001-02.

Mays began his collegiate career at Cincinnati where he spent the 1998 and 1999 campaigns. He had a solid year as a redshirt freshman in 1999, rushing for 293 yards and two touchdowns on 67 carries in 11 games.

A graduate of Youngstown State with a degree in Computer Information Systems, Mays was a second-team All-Ohio selection during his senior season at East High School.