Veteran Alabama collegiate and high school coach Travis Pearson joined the Georgia State football staff as the defensive coordinator in March 2025.
Before joining the Panthers' staff, Pearson served as the assistant coach of cornerbacks at Troy for three seasons.
Pearson joined the Trojans' staff prior to the 2022 season and was a key member of both staffs that won a Sun Belt title the last two years. He came to Troy following a three-year run as the defensive coordinator at Alabama State and also served as the defensive coordinator at South Alabama from 2014-15.
The Trojans finished the 2024 campaign winning three of their last four games and posted a top 25 defense nationally in November, while Damaje Yancey finished fourth in the Sun Belt with nine pass break ups.
Pearson joined the Troy staff prior to the 2022 season and was a key member of both staffs that won a Sun Belt title the last two years. He came to Troy following a three-year run as the defensive coordinator at Alabama State and also served as the defensive coordinator at South Alabama from 2014-15.
Reddy Steward earned a pair of All-Sun Belt First Team honors under Pearson's guidance as the Trojans were one of the nation's top defenses in 2022 and 2023.
This past season, Troy set the program and Sun Belt single-season record with 47 sacks, and the Trojans ranked in the top 15 nationally in sacks (4th), scoring defense (10th), rushing defense (12th) and total defense (14th). Additionally, the Trojans held eight teams to fewer than 200 passing yards, the 11th most in the country.
Troy held eight of its 14 opponents to fewer than 300 yards of total offense and handed Army its first shutout at home in 20 years and first overall shutout in nine seasons. The Trojans allowed just 308.1 yards per game allowed per game is its fewest since 2002 and the sixth fewest in Sun Belt history.
In his first season, Troy held all 14 of its opponents to under their season average in scoring, including three of the top 25 scoring teams in the country – UTSA, Western Kentucky and App State. The Trojans limited UTSA to just 10 offensive points in the Cure Bowl, with three of those 10 points coming on a 4-play, 7-yard drive following a turnover; the Roadrunners entered the game averaging 38.7 points per game.
The Trojans held eight of its 14 opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter and allowed an average of just 3.64 points in the final 15 minutes of the game. Additionally, Troy ranked eighth nationally in turnovers gained, 14th in sacks, eighth in scoring defense, 19th in total defense and 24th in rushing defense.
Additionally, the Trojans finished the season ranked in a major poll for the first time in program history, checking in at No. 19 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Additionally, Troy's appearance in the Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff Poll after its Sun Belt Championship Game victory were also firsts for the program.
Troy hosted and appeared in the Sun Belt Championship Game for the first time, reached the 12-win mark at the FBS level for the first time and hosted Army in front of a Veterans Memorial Stadium record crowd of more than 31,000 fans.
Reddy Steward earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors after he ranked fourth nationally per Pro Football Focus in coverage, allowed just 8.7 yards per reception and was called for just penalties.
Pearson joined 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.
