Terry Swanson joined the NAU Football staff in December 2023 as Running Backs Coach. The 2025 season is his second on staff.

Orchestrating a committee attack, Swanson saw three separate running backs gain over 300 yards rushing with those rushers averaging over five yards per carry in 2024. Under Swanson’s guidance, Seth Cromwell posted 681 yards rushing and nine touchdowns in his first season in the Big Sky.

Swanson arrived in Flagstaff from Pittsburg State, where he held the same position under current NAU head coach Brian Wright.
 
At Pitt State, Swanson was the staff's NFL liaison. Before working with the Gorillas, Swanson was at Toledo where he most recently served as director of player development. He previously served as a recruiting assistant at Toledo in 2020 and as a graduate assistant at Saint Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla., during the 2019 season.
 
Swanson played at Toledo from 2014-17, rushing for 3,601 career yards and twice earning All-MAC honors, while playing for Wright for one season with the Rockets. Following his collegiate career, Swanson enjoyed a brief stint in the NFL with the Houston Texans in 2018. He later signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL in 2020.
 
A native of Aliquippa, Pa., Swanson earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Toledo in May 2018.