Assistant Coach Travis Pearson

TRAVIS PEARSON

CORNERBACKS

@coachTPearson

Veteran Alabama collegiate and high school coach Travis Pearson begins his first season at Troy coaching the cornerbacks following a three-year stint as defensive coordinator at Alabama State.

Pearson joins the Troy staff with seven years of experience as a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level after two seasons at Alabama A&M and three at South Alabama in addition to his work at Alabama State.

Pearson was named Alabama State’s interim head coach for the final three games of the 2021 season, and he led the Hornets to a 2-1 record with wins over Texas Southern and Tuskegee. In addition, Bama State defensive back Irshaad Davis earned All-SWAC honors under Pearson’s leadership.

He joined the Alabama State staff in 2018 and was promoted to the Hornets’ defensive coordinator a year later.

In 2020, Pearson led a Hornets defense that held opponents to 140.8 yards rushing and 184.8 yards passing while also leading a defense that limited opponents to 17 points or less twice in just five games. During the 2019 season, Alabama State was among the league leaders in points per game – averaging 27.4 points per game allowed. They also held opponents to just 167.2 yards through the air and pitched a shutout over Mississippi Valley State.

During his time at Alabama A&M, Pearson led a resurgence on the defensive side of the ball as the team was ranked as one of the best in the conference his final season leading the unit. He was the defensive coordinator at South Alabama for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Before that, he served as the Jaguars’ linebackers coach in 2013.

In 2014, the Jaguar defense ranked among the leaders in the Sun Belt Conference throughout the season before ending fourth in both total yards (398.9 ypg) and points (26.4 ppg) allowed per game. The Jags also tied for second with 21 takeaways and second in red zone defense that season and six of South Alabama’s 10 all-conference honorees came from Pearson’s unit.

In 2013, he led South Alabama’s inside linebackers while working with a defensive unit that ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference in passing, total and scoring defense.

Before joining South Alabama’s coaching staff, Pearson was the defensive coordinator at Colquitt County (Ga.) High School helping the Packers to back-to-back semifinal appearances in the state AAAAA playoffs; the program posted an overall record of 21-7 during that span. In the fall of 2012, Colquitt County recorded 51 takeaways en route to a 10-4 finish, while in Pearson’s first year on the staff, the unit forced 38 turnovers, returning eight of those for scores.

He was the head coach and athletic director at Jeff Davis High School in Montgomery, Ala., during the 2009 and 2010 campaigns, and also has been a head coach at Elmore County (Ala.) High (2002-04) — where he was selected the Metro 4A Coach of the Year by the Montgomery Advertiser after guiding the Panthers to a 12-1 mark and the quarterfinals of the state playoffs his final year — and Central Hayneville (Ala.) High (1998-99). Pearson helped guide the latter to a berth in the state 4A playoffs his second season at the helm of the program.

He was an assistant at Elmore County High School for two years before becoming the Panthers’ head coach and was the defensive coordinator for two seasons at Oxford (Ala.) High, where the Yellow Jackets made back-to-back state playoff appearances; after Oxford qualified for postseason action at the 5A level in 2005, the school made the playoffs again the following fall in the 6A classification. Pearson was selected to serve as a defensive coordinator in the 2004 Alabama North/South All-Star Game and worked at football camps conducted by the staff at Auburn for five years.

Pearson served as director of football operations at Iowa State during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

A 1997 graduate of Alabama State with a degree in physical education, he was a three-year letterwinner for the Hornets. He played eight seasons in the Arena Football League for three teams and was selected to the league’s 15th Anniversary Team in 2003.

Pearson and his wife Maria have three children: daughter Marissa, and sons Travis II and Trevor.

PEARSON FILE

YEAR AT TROY: AGE: HOMETOWN: WIFE: CHILDREN:

HIGH SCHOOL:

ALMA MATER:

1st (2022) 51 (July 25, 1971) Gilbertown, Ala. Maria Marissa, Travis II, Trevor Southern Choctaw HS (‘89) Alabama State (‘97) - B.S. Physical Education

PLAYING CAREER

1989-92 1994 1995 1996-99 2000-01 Alabama State Tampa Bay Storm (Arena League) Miami Hooters (Arena League) Florida Bobcats (Arena League) Los Angeles Avengers (Arena League)

COACHING CAREER

Troy (Cornerbacks)

Alabama State Interim Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator Defensive Coordinator Safeties Alabama A&M (Defensive Coordinator / Secondary) South Alabama Defensive Coordinator Linebackers Colquitt County (Ga.) HS (Defensive Coordinator) Jeff Davis (Ala.) HS (Athletics Director / Head Coach) Iowa State (Director of Football Operations) Oxford (Ala.) HS (Defensive Coordinator) Elmore County (Ala.) HS Head Coach Assistant Coach Central (Ala.) HS (Head Coach) Alabama State (Graduate Assistant)

2022

2018-21 2021 2019-20 2018 2016-17 2013-15 2014-15 2013 2011-12 2009-10 2007-08 2005-06 2000-04 2002-04 2000-01 1998-99 1993

BOWL HISTORY