In his second year with the Bulldogs, Travis Pearson is the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
This season, Pearson has eight starters returning on the defensive side of the ball, including a pair of preseason All-Southwestern Athletic Conference first teamers in senior defensive back Tere Calloway and senior linebacker Kenneth Davis.
Pearson was the defensive coordinator for the University of South Alabama in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Prior to that, he served as the Jaguars' linebackers coach in 2013
In the 2014 season, the Jaguar defense ranked among the leaders in the Sun Belt Conference throughout the season before ending fourth in both total yards (398.9 pg) and points (26.4 pg) allowed per game, also finishing tied for second with 21 takeaways and second in red zone defense.  Two members of his secondary earned all-league honors with Terrell Brigham named second-team all-SBC and Montell Garner an honorable mention selection, as six of USA’s 10 all-conference honorees came from Pearson’s unit.
In 2013, he led USA’s inside linebackers while working with a defensive unit that ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference in pass, total and scoring defense. Â
Prior to joining USA's coaching staff, Pearson was the defensive coordinator at Colquitt County (Ga.) High 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 CCHS recorded 51 takeaways en route to an 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 Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery, Ala., during the 2009 and ’10 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 H.S. for two years prior to 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 OHS 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 ’08 seasons as well.
A 1997 graduate of Alabama State with a degree in physical education, he was a three-year letterwinner for the Hornets.  He would go on to play 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 (16), and sons Travis II (14) and Trevor (12).
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