Kellen Nesbitt has been promoted to Head Football Coach at Truman State University on an interim basis for the 2024 season. Nesbitt was previously the assistant coach/defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs the past 14 seasons.
"I am honored and thankful to be named the interim head football coach at Truman State University," said Coach Nesbitt. "I want to give a special thanks to Jerry Wollmering and President Sue Thomas for giving me this opportunity. Truman State has a long-storied football tradition that I have been proud to be a part of for the past 14 years, and I am excited to continue working on the next chapter.
"My father,
Gregg Nesbitt, has done an incredible job of building pride, culture, and a winning tradition back into the program. Our entire football organization and alumni are forever grateful to him. We will do our best to continue to grow his vision of building a competitive Bulldog Football program that competes with class and sees our athletes through to graduation."
"With the timing of Gregg's (Nesbitt) retirement and spring practice approaching, the best course of action was to make this immediate appointment," said Director of Athletics Jerry Wollmering. "I am excited to see Kellen's leadership now in the role of head coach."
The Truman State defensive has been one of the top units in not only the Great Lakes Valley Conference but the NCAA Division II as well. They have been first or second in the GLVC in both rushing yards and points allowed in nine of the 11 seasons and ranked withing the top 25 of Division II schools in rushing yards allowed in eight of the past nine campaigns.
Nesbitt has coached 82 Bulldog players to all-conference defensive honors since 2010, including 34 first-team selections and four players, Austin Zoda,
Isaiah Estes, Sam Reeves and Tremaine Millender, that were four-time all-conference honorees.
Nesbitt coordinated the special teams for the Bulldogs which have been known for exceptional play in all three phases of the kicking game. The team has been known for limiting opponents' yards on kickoffs and punt while on the flip side having explosive returns on the receiving end of kicks. Lawrence Woods was named an All-American and a GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year following the 2018 season.
Prior to joining his father's staff at Truman in 2010, Nesbitt coached three seasons at his alma mater, the University of Central Missouri as defensive backs coach. Nesbitt was a four-year letterwinner for the Mules with over 120 career tackles. He was the Special Teams player of the year in 2004 and earned the school's Markey Football Scholarship in 2006.
Nesbitt was a Missouri Bright Flight Scholarship recipient and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education.
He becomes the 23
rd head coach for the Bulldogs in 117 seasons.
Defensive Season Recaps
2022 - The Bulldog defense led the GLVC in points allowed and was once again stingy against the rush as the squad limited opponents to only 18.6 points and under 300 yards of total offense per game during the season. It was the sixth time in Coach Nesbitt's 13 years as coordinator that the Bulldogs forced over 20 turnovers in a season as 17 interceptions were added to seven fumbles recovered. Seven players had over 40 tackles during the season with Isaiah Estes leading the way with 78 total stops. Ben Watson and Ben Thomas were next with 59 and 58 tackles respectively. Thomas led the unit with five interceptions followed by Ryan Olivas with four. Robert Greco was an unanimous all-GLVC defender and was joined on the first team by Estes, Thomas, Watson, Ben Miller, and Jake Closser with Peyton Carr and Ulysses Ross earning second team accolades.
2021 - The young Truman defense stepped up to the challenge by coming out of the gates to win their first four games…allowed just one first half touchdown in the first three weeks…the team posted the second most sacks (31) and tackles for loss (86.0) in a season at Truman while holding opponents to 2.5 yards per carry and under 1000 yards (928) on the ground…the 77.3 yards per game rushing was the lowest allowed per game by a Bulldog team since the 1963 season and first time below 100 yards per game since 1968…Collin Alves, Ben Watson and Robert Greco earned first team all-GLVC honors and was joined on the squad, defensively by Ben Thomas, Isaiah Estes, Michael Neisler, Ben Miller and Ulysses Ross.
2020* - The four game spring season allowed the Bulldog defense to gain some valuable in-game experience as the turnover between the 2019/2020 season was rather dramatic...six Bulldogs earned all-conference honors with five being place on the first team...the only senior in the all-conference ground was linebacker Reed McBroom while three defensive linemen, Robert Greco, Alec Devecchi and Kendrick Scarbrough and defensive back Ben Watson were placed on the first team...the defense surrendered 27 points per game...the lowest yardage allowed for the season was 329 yards against William Jewell.
2019 - Truman allowed seven points or less in four games during the season and only 18.6 in the 12 games played...the defense allowed a GLVC low, 106.3 yards rushing per contest and were second in total yards allowed at 333.5...they turned opponents over 21 times with 15 interceptions by 11 different players...Sam Reeves became Truman’s all-time sacks leader and leader in tackles for loss in a career...the defense held opponents under 200 yards of total offense in three games with a season-low 169 in the America’s Crossroads Bowl championship in a 21-7 win over Ohio Dominican...Reeves and Jordan Siegel repeated as first team all-conference selections.
2018 - The Bulldogs ranked second among GLVC schools in rushing defense, allowing 114.7 yards per the 11 games played...four times during the year, Truman held opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing, including only 12 yards gained on the ground by Lincoln...the squad was second in conference in third downs, having opponent being successful 34.6% of the time...Jordan Siegel, Lawrence Woods and Sam Reeves were all named first-team all-GLVC...Siegel led the defense with 6.1 tackles per game and had a pair of interceptions...Truman had 80.5 tackles for loss which was the second most in a single-season at Truman...the 24 QB sacks were the 10th most in a Truman single season...Reeves has moved up to claim the school career lead in tackles for loss and is one back of taking over the all-time quarterback sack lead with 31.
2017 – The Bulldogs again were one of the stalwarts of the GLVC in defense as the team was ranked third in total defense by allowing under 350 yards per game during the season…Truman held five opponents to under 60 plays per game during the year, including a low mark of 46 and 212 yards of total offense in the season finale against McKendree…getting to the ball and to the quarterback has been a staple of the defense and 2017 was no different…Sam Reeves led the charge on the defensive line with 16 tackles for loss and 11.5 quarterback sacks to be among the national leaders…Truman had 66 tackles for loss during the year with a total of 198 yards loss and 22 quarterback sacks…Justin Mikeworth and Bryan Edwards were 1-2 in total tackles with 74 and 73 respectively…Edwards had four of the team’s 10 fumble recoveries and four different players had interceptions…senior Jordan Brown and Reeves were first-team all-GLVC members while Mikeworth (2T), Edwards (HM) and Isaiah Hinton (HM) were also named to the all-league list.
2016 – Truman were seventh in Division II in redzone defense allowing opponents to score just 62% of the time and were 19th in the nation in rushing yards allowed 103.0…the Bulldogs held conference opponents to 18.6 points per game and held three opponents during the season to three points or less including a shutout of Lincoln on September 24…the defensive was second in the GLVC in sacks with 35 for 192 yards and broke the school record for sacks in a season and also tackles for loss (90) during the 2016 season…held four teams to under 300 yards of total offense with a season low 197 to Lincoln…the Bulldogs registered four sacks in a pair of games and topped 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in three…senior Austin Zoda earned his second straight first-team all-GLVC honor and became a four-time all-conference honoree on the defense…Sam Reeves and Ben Wellman were also first team selections…Jordan Brown, Bryan Edwards and Kyle Leckrone were second team picks and D’Anthony Knight and Isaiah Hinton were named honorable mention.
2015 – The Bulldogs were either first or second in several defensive categories in the GLVC and ranked highly on a national level…they were first in the GLVC and fifth nationally in red-zone defense, 22nd nationally in third down defense, 34th in total defense (331.2/g) and second in the conference and 26th overall in scoring defense (20.1 ppg)…had 11 fumble recoveries to rank second in the league and 43rd in Division II…has allowed only two opposing players to rush for 100 yards in the last 12 games and five since the start of the 2013 season…held two schools, Lincoln (-11) and William Jewell (35) to under 100 yards total rushing for the game and four teams under 300 yards of total offense…junior Austin Zoda earned first-team all-GLVC and was joined by defensive players Jordan Brown, Nick Reichert, Ben Wellman and Brian Craft on the second team.
2014 – Bulldogs were 14th in Division II in scoring defense allowing 17.8 points per game…that average is the lowest scoring average by an opponent against the Bulldogs since the 1994 season (17.6)…held opponents to under 350 yards of total offense per game for second straight season…held Missouri S&T to a season-low 237 yards of total offense and kept five conference teams under 100 rushing yards…most yards allowed was 509 against Indianapolis…had five defensive players earn second team all-GLVC (Nic Abbate, Matthew Bell, Nick Reichert, Chris Stanton, Austin Zoda)…the 76 tackles for loss were the most in single-season history and the 24 sacks was the eighth most.
2013 – Held opponents to the lowest scoring average (20.3) since the 1994 season (17.6) with nearly 100 yards less of total offense by the opposition than the previous year before…matched a school-high 75 tackles for loss and was one sack off the school record with 27…opponents rushed for just 11 touchdowns and 121.3 yards per game…the Bulldogs had nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss in shutout victory over Quincy to open GLVC action…allowed a season-low 126 yards of total offense in victory over William Jewell and held a total of five teams (all in the GLVC) under 300 yards of total offense.
2012 – Senior Richie Schumacher led the defense with 110 tackles and the Bulldogs forced 28 turnovers…Michael Elliott and Robert Gayden each had five picks and 11 Bulldogs had at least one fumble recovery…Patrick Blackwell registered eight of the team’s 28 quarterback sacks and had 17 tackles for loss to earn second team all-MIAA status…team has a season-high seven sacks in victory over Nebraska-Kearney and forced five turnovers in loss at Central Missouri.
2011 – Richie Schumacher led the MIAA and was in the top five of Division II with 130 tackles while earning All-America and second-team all-conference honors for the Bulldogs…forced 27 turnovers with 18 fumble recoveries and nine interceptions….two of turnovers gained were returned by the defense for scores…defense limited opposing teams to 72.3% redzone scoring with 19 rushing and nine passing TDs out of 47 opportunities…the team recorded 21 quarterback sacks and 56 tackles for loss.
2010 – Held opponents to 148 yards rushing per game and the fewest overall rushing yards (1,601) since the 2005 season…Michael Elliott paced the Bulldogs with 91 total tackles and three interceptions to garner first-team all-MIAA honors, while Ryan Ploesser had eight sacks for second team accolades…the Bulldogs notched 27 QB sacks including eight in the opener against Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) and 72 tackles for loss…the defense held opponents to 34% on third-down conversions.
