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From TrumanBulldogs.com:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – After 14 seasons as Head Football Coach at Truman State University and over 40 years of coaching, mentoring and leading countless football players, Gregg Nesbitt has announced his retirement.
"My wife Jackie and I can't begin to fully express our appreciation to Athletics Director Jerry Wollmering for offering us this opportunity to come home to Truman State, where we first met as undergraduate students in 1979," said Coach Nesbitt. "We also are appreciative to our entire athletic community of coaches, administrators, custodial staff along with our faculty and entire community of Truman State. Most of all, a sincere thank you to each coach, each player, each athletic trainer, each parent and each alumni who have poured into our Bulldog Football program over the past 14 seasons. Teamwork is still the ultimate competitive advantage, and our success is a culmination of these efforts.
"We have taken great pride in the graduation of each of our players, and our teams have consistently competed with class and sportsmanship on the field and provided service to our entire community along the way doing our best to win football games. It has been our privilege to invest our time into this program and to love each of you involved in Bulldog Football for the past 14 years. It is ALWAYS a great day to be a Bulldog!"
"I want to express my gratitude to Gregg Nesbitt for his leadership of our football program for the past 14 years," said Wollmering. "He has led our program with class and humility having a huge impact on the players, coaches and community. He was very supportive of the transition our athletics program made to the GLVC in 2013. It was a great pleasure to work with him and wish him and Jackie the best in the next chapter of their journey."
Nesbitt coached 148 games for his alma mater, the most of any of the previous 22 head coaches at the school. His team won over 60% of their games with an 89-59 overall record and a 52-23 mark in 11 seasons played under the Great Lakes Valley Conference banner.
Over the last five seasons, the Bulldogs have won 80% of their games with three postseason bowl championships. The 40-10 record during those 50 games is arguably one of the best stretches in school football history.
The team has been recognized seven times since 2015 as the winners of the GLVC Sportsmanship Award and routinely places over a third of the roster earning yearly Academic All-GLVC accolades.
Nesbitt has grown and fostered relationships with decades of Bulldog Football alumni and fans during his tenure as head coach. Donations to the program's Touchdown Club and participation and financial support for the annual golf outing in St. Louis have increased each year.
A 1980 graduate of Truman State, Nesbitt was the team's leading rusher in the 1979 season. He began his coaching journey in his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri leading the Pirates as head coach on the gridiron from 1984-89 while also serving as athletics director.
Nesbitt returned to Kirksville and joined Eric Holm's staff in 1990 and was part of an era that led to two NCAA Division II playoff appearances and a 23-9 record. In 1993, Nesbitt was named head coach at Columbia's Hickman High School where he led the Kewpies for 13 years with over 90 students receiving scholarships to play college football and 42 all-state honorees. Hickman was ranked in the top 10 in Missouri's largest class in 10 of 13 seasons and was the 2004 Class Six State Champions earning him the Associated Press Missouri Coach of the Year, the National Federation of High School Sports Regional Coach of the Year and a finalist for the NFHS National Coach of the Year award.
He returned to the collegiate ranks in 2006 first as defensive coordinator at Central Methodist (Mo.) University and joined now University of Houston Head Coach Willie Fritz at Central Missouri in 2007.
Nesbitt was named the 22nd Head Coach at Truman State in 2010 and helped navigate the Bulldogs transition from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association to the Great Lakes Valley Conference. In 2016, the Bulldogs claimed a share of the GLVC Football championship, the first league title for the school since 1988 and 27th overall. The team won a school-record 10 games in the 2019 season and were the inaugural America's Crossroads Bowl champions. In 2021, Cody Schrader led all three NCAA Divisions in rushing yards and earned First team All-America honors as the Bulldogs won nine games. The team has since posted consecutive 9-2 seasons and have been consistently ranked in the top 25 by the American Football Coaches Association.
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – After 14 seasons as Head Football Coach at Truman State University and over 40 years of coaching, mentoring and leading countless football players, Gregg Nesbitt has announced his retirement.
"My wife Jackie and I can't begin to fully express our appreciation to Athletics Director Jerry Wollmering for offering us this opportunity to come home to Truman State, where we first met as undergraduate students in 1979," said Coach Nesbitt. "We also are appreciative to our entire athletic community of coaches, administrators, custodial staff along with our faculty and entire community of Truman State. Most of all, a sincere thank you to each coach, each player, each athletic trainer, each parent and each alumni who have poured into our Bulldog Football program over the past 14 seasons. Teamwork is still the ultimate competitive advantage, and our success is a culmination of these efforts.
"We have taken great pride in the graduation of each of our players, and our teams have consistently competed with class and sportsmanship on the field and provided service to our entire community along the way doing our best to win football games. It has been our privilege to invest our time into this program and to love each of you involved in Bulldog Football for the past 14 years. It is ALWAYS a great day to be a Bulldog!"
"I want to express my gratitude to Gregg Nesbitt for his leadership of our football program for the past 14 years," said Wollmering. "He has led our program with class and humility having a huge impact on the players, coaches and community. He was very supportive of the transition our athletics program made to the GLVC in 2013. It was a great pleasure to work with him and wish him and Jackie the best in the next chapter of their journey."
Nesbitt coached 148 games for his alma mater, the most of any of the previous 22 head coaches at the school. His team won over 60% of their games with an 89-59 overall record and a 52-23 mark in 11 seasons played under the Great Lakes Valley Conference banner.
Over the last five seasons, the Bulldogs have won 80% of their games with three postseason bowl championships. The 40-10 record during those 50 games is arguably one of the best stretches in school football history.
The team has been recognized seven times since 2015 as the winners of the GLVC Sportsmanship Award and routinely places over a third of the roster earning yearly Academic All-GLVC accolades.
Nesbitt has grown and fostered relationships with decades of Bulldog Football alumni and fans during his tenure as head coach. Donations to the program's Touchdown Club and participation and financial support for the annual golf outing in St. Louis have increased each year.
A 1980 graduate of Truman State, Nesbitt was the team's leading rusher in the 1979 season. He began his coaching journey in his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri leading the Pirates as head coach on the gridiron from 1984-89 while also serving as athletics director.
Nesbitt returned to Kirksville and joined Eric Holm's staff in 1990 and was part of an era that led to two NCAA Division II playoff appearances and a 23-9 record. In 1993, Nesbitt was named head coach at Columbia's Hickman High School where he led the Kewpies for 13 years with over 90 students receiving scholarships to play college football and 42 all-state honorees. Hickman was ranked in the top 10 in Missouri's largest class in 10 of 13 seasons and was the 2004 Class Six State Champions earning him the Associated Press Missouri Coach of the Year, the National Federation of High School Sports Regional Coach of the Year and a finalist for the NFHS National Coach of the Year award.
He returned to the collegiate ranks in 2006 first as defensive coordinator at Central Methodist (Mo.) University and joined now University of Houston Head Coach Willie Fritz at Central Missouri in 2007.
Nesbitt was named the 22nd Head Coach at Truman State in 2010 and helped navigate the Bulldogs transition from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association to the Great Lakes Valley Conference. In 2016, the Bulldogs claimed a share of the GLVC Football championship, the first league title for the school since 1988 and 27th overall. The team won a school-record 10 games in the 2019 season and were the inaugural America's Crossroads Bowl champions. In 2021, Cody Schrader led all three NCAA Divisions in rushing yards and earned First team All-America honors as the Bulldogs won nine games. The team has since posted consecutive 9-2 seasons and have been consistently ranked in the top 25 by the American Football Coaches Association.
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