Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford begins his third season as the Illinois State wide receivers coach in 2021 and second as co-offensive coordinator.. 

Muhammad-Lankford took over a talented but young group of wideouts in 2019 and saw some early success, before the injury bug hit his crew hard. Injuries cost several wide receivers the majority if not their entire seasons, but allowed new players to emerge. Freshman Kacper Rutkiewicz was thrust into action and earned a spot on the MVFC All-Newcomer Team with his play. After returning from injury, Andrew Edgar showed why he is one of the most talented receivers in the conference finishing the year with four touchdown receptions.

He came to Normal after completing his third year as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Southeast Missouri. He helped guide the Redhawks to a school record nine wins and the second round of the 2018 FCS playoffs, where they were defeated by No. 2 Weber State.

As the running backs coach, Muhammad-Lankford mentored Marquis Terry who earned multiple All-America honors in 2018. Terry was the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year, after leading the league in rushing yards (1,229), rushing touchdowns (14) and rushing yards per game (94.5). He ran for over 100 yards a league-high six times with an OVC and school record 311 at Southern Illinois (Sept. 15). 

Muhammad-Lankford joined Southeast’s staff in February of 2016, after previously working as an offensive graduate assistant at Missouri, where he assisted then-wide receivers coach Pat Washington with all daily coaching responsibilities. Muhammad-Lankford helped create game plan ideas for weekly opponents and assisted with recruiting among other duties.

Before Missouri, Muhammad-Lankford helped coach the running backs at Wyoming in the same capacity during the 2013 campaign. He coached the kick returners, coordinated game plans for the running backs, assisted with all special teams, created scouting reports and managed the scout teams during practices. In addition, Muhammad-Lankford was in charge of the running back meetings, drills and signaling to running backs on game day.

A native of St. Joseph, Muhammad-Lankford played four years (2009-2012) at Wyoming. He was the Cowboys leading rusher before suffering a season-ending injury in 2011. A year later, Muhammad-Lankford led Wyoming with 106 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and four fumble recoveries as a linebacker his senior season.

He received his undergraduate degree in communications at Wyoming in 2013 and is currently working on his master’s in positive coaching. He and his wife, Taryn, have one son, Eliyaas.