Pepe Pearson


Pepe Pearson is a former American football tailback, starting in college for the Ohio State Buckeyes, is currently the running backs coach for Marshall University.

Playing career

A four-year letterwinner at Ohio State, Pearson is the Buckeye’s ninth all-time leading rusher with 3,121 yards). trailing only Archie Griffin, Ezekiel Elliott, Eddie George, Tim Spencer, Beanie Wells, Braxton Miller, Keith Byars, and Carlos Hyde. His 1,484 rushing yards as a junior is the tenth highest season total in team history. Pearson's had a 173-yard rushing performance in Ohio State's 1996 victory over Notre Dame.
After completing his college career, Pearson spent time in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers. His greatest professional success came in NFL Europe where he scored the game-winning touchdown for the Rhein Fire to win the 2000 World Bowl Championship. He later spent time with the Dayton Warbirds, an expansion team in the National Indoor Football League.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Pearson began a career in coaching. From 2004-2015 he was the running backs coach for Ohio Dominican University. In 2005, he was also the head coach of the Daytona Beach Hawgs of the NIFL, leading them to a playoff berth just before the team was disbanded. He was also the head coach for the now defunct Marion Mayhem of the Continental Indoor Football League. In 2015, he joined Bo Pelini at Youngstown State to be their running backs coach, having a successful first year with his team accumulating more than 2,000 rushing yards. In 2016, he left Youngstown and joined Marshall in Huntington, WV.