Marshall University Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Running Backs
- Email:
- pearsonp@marshall.edu
- Phone:
- 6463
In 2020, Pearson will begin his fifth season as Marshall’s running backs coach. He joined the Thundering Herd after one season in the same position at Youngstown State.
In 2019, sophomore Brenden Knox took Conference USA by storm, racking up 1,387 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to being named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
In 2018, sophomore Tyler King led the team in rushing yards once again with 655. King is the fourth player in program history to lead the team in rushing in his freshman and sophomore seasons, joining Darius Marshall, Franklin "Butchie" Wallace and Ron Lear. King was not the only star in the backfield, though.
Senior Keion Davis ran his way to the Gasparilla Bowl MVP honors (94 rushing yards, two touchdowns). Senior Anthony Anderson led the team in rushing touchdowns (nine). And freshman Brenden Knox, who did not receive a carry until the ninth game of the season, led all of college football in rushing yards in December (297) even though he missed the second half of the bowl game with an injury.
Davis finished with 2,014 career rushing yards, passing Llow Turner on the penultimate carry of his career – a 52-yard run that sealed the game and MVP honors for the senior from Georgia. Turner ran for exactly 2,000 rushing yards in his career, and Davis finishes his career No. 15 on the program's all-time rushing yards list.
Knox emerged too late in the season to make the C-USA all-conference freshman team, but ranked ninth in college football among freshmen in rushing yards (578) while only receiving a carry in five games. Knox averaged 115.6 yards per game in the final five games, which would have ranked No. 8 nationally for the entire season, but his rushing average includes production from all 13 games because he played on special teams.
In 2015, the Penguins had more than 2,000 yards rushing for the sixth consecutive season. Junior Martin Ruiz ended the season ranked sixth in school history in rushing yards (3,153), sixth in attempts (645), eighth in rushing touchdowns (29) and 10th in all-purpose yards (3,956). Backfield mate Jody Webb was also named the Missouri Valley Conference’s second team.
Prior to joining Coach Bo Pelini's YSU staff Pearson spent 10 seasons at Ohio Dominican.
Pearson, who was a standout running back at Ohio State from 1994-97, coached some of the top Division II running backs during his tenure with the Panthers.
During his last four years with the program he managed the special teams units in addition to coaching the running backs.
In 2014, Pearson helped the Panthers advance to the third round of the NCAA Division II playoffs as running back Brandon Schoen finished with 1,134 yards. ODU finished the campaign with an 11-2 record losing to Colorado State Pueblo in the Super Region Four final. The 11 wins represented the most for the team since joining Division II in 2010 and the most by a Panthers team since 2007.
Under Pearson's guidance, Schoen has already become the school's all-time leading rusher heading into his senior year (2015) with 3,327 yards. Pearson's work with Schoen has helped him receive All-GLIAC honors for two consecutive years.
In 2013, Pearson witnessed two players surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a season for the first time in school history as he Mark Nichols finished with 1,187 yards rushing and Schoen tallied 1,154 yards rushing. Nichols garnered first-team All-GLIAC honors and Schoen received second team all-conference honors.
During the 2011-12 seasons, the Panthers began to re-write the school’s rushing records as running back Mike Noffsinger was named a Harlon Hill Trophy semifinalist as one of the best Division II players in the country.
Noffsinger set school single-season and career rushing marks for yards and touchdowns as the Panthers finished 2011 with the best rushing offense in program history. Noffsinger toted the ball a school-record 246 times for 1,242 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 112.9 yards per game on the ground. He finished with nine 100-yard games this season and set a school-record with 2,714 rushing yards.
At Ohio State, he helped lead the Buckeyes to four straight bowl appearances from 1994-97, including a 1997 Rose Bowl victory. A four-year letterwinner for OSU, Pearson gained 1,484 yards and 17 touchdowns on 299 carries his junior year, and was selected All-Big Ten and team Most Valuable Player (MVP). He finished his career as the Buckeyes’ fifth all-time leading rusher with 3,121 yards while playing under former head coach John Cooper.
After completing his college career, Pearson played for the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers. He also played in NFL Europe, where he won the 2000 World Bowl Championship with the Rhein Fire, scoring the game-winning touchdown.
After his decorated playing career came to a close, Pearson was the head coach of the Daytona Beach Hawgs in 2005-06, formerly of the National Indoor Football League. He next served as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Marion Mayhem, a member of the Continental Indoor Football League from 2007-09. He led his team to the 2009 conference championship with a record of 9-3.
A 1998 graduate of The Ohio State University majoring in Sociology, Pearson was a four-year starter and high school All-America honoree at Euclid High School.
Pearson and his wife Semoine were married in June 2016. He has two sons, London and Roman, and a daughter, Mychal.
