Bangura rushed for 1,994 yards and 22 touchdowns in three seasons at Ohio from 2021-23.
Sometimes you have to leave home to truly appreciate the feeling of coming back.
Such is the case with Sieh Bangura. Bangura suited up for Ohio from 2021-23 and transferred to Minnesota for the 2024 season. After a brief one-year stint in the Big Ten, Bangura is coming back home. The running back announced his return to Ohio in the transfer portal Tuesday for his final season of eligibility.
Bangura onboarded at Ohio for the 2021 season — Tim Albin’s first year as head coach. He maintained a redshirt and rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns behind starter De’Montre Tuggle. Bangura’s role grew exponentially in 2022 as he took the No. 1 tailback duties.
As a redshirt freshman, he cashed in on his expanded opportunity with 1,078 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Ranked third and fourth in the MAC in those categories respectively, Bangura took home Third Team All-MAC honors and was named the MAC Freshman of the Year. He concluded the year competing in the MAC Championship Game and accumulating 138 rushing yards in the Arizona Bowl to defeat Wyoming.
Bangura maintained the primary running back role in 2023 where he posted 811 rushing yards and seven touchdowns for a 10-win Ohio team. He entered the portal prior to the Myrtle Beach Bowl and committed to Minnesota. However, Bangura’s production took a significant dip in Gopher Country, where he only took four handoffs for 12 yards in three games.
Bangura returns to Ohio with 1,982 rushing yards as a Bobcat (13th in program history) and 22 rushing touchdowns (10th in program history). He also doubled as a threat in the receiving game with 50 catches for 453 yards in three years at Ohio.
He returns to a Bobcat team which is undergoing an offseason of significant transition. Albin fled to Charlotte and was replaced by associate head coach and offensive coordinator Brian Smith as the program’s next head coach. Smith served as Bangura’s running backs coach while Bangura was on campus in 2022 and 2023, so the two reunite.
Bangura also joins a backfield which completely transforms for the 2025 season. Anthony Tyus III declared for the draft after a stellar 1,215-yard season while backup Rickey Hunt Jr. entered the transfer portal. Although the Bobcats retain a 1,000-yard rusher in quarterback Parker Navarro, no returning running back for the 2025 season rushed for 100 yards in 2024.
But Ohio now possesses somebody who has seen great success wearing the green and white, and he’s back home for one last ride in Athens.