Bulldog Football: A Family Tradition

After 14 seasons as head coach, Gregg Nesbitt (left) retired from Truman football earlier this year. Kellen Nesbitt, his son and a longtime member of the staff, will serve as the interim coach for the upcoming season. The Bulldogs begin play at home against the University of Findlay at 12 p.m. Sept. 7.

Legacies are earned, not awarded. Success comes from years of hard work and dedication few ever witness until the results are impossible to ignore. Gregg and Kellen Nesbitt exemplify this paradox in full. As one man hangs his hat on a coaching career that is the envy of many in the profession, the other is primed to step up and show how nearly two decades of preparation have him ready to lead one of the most successful programs in all of Division II football.  

Gregg Nesbitt came to campus in 1976 on a full-tuition academic scholarship. No one thought at the time he would become synonymous with the football program. He earned his spot on the team as a walk on, eventually becoming a two-time letterwinner and the squad’s leading rusher in his senior season. With degrees in physical education and sports administration, Nesbitt (’80, ’87) found coaching success first at the high school level in his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. He led the Pirates for six years and was the school’s athletic director before returning to Truman in 1990 to serve on the staff of a team that made two NCAA playoff appearances. Nesbitt won a state championship in 2004 as head coach of Columbia’s Hickman High School where he coached for 13 years. He later returned to the college ranks at the University of Central Missouri, serving on staff with his son, Kellen, in 2007.

In 2010, Nesbitt got the call to be the next head coach of the Bulldogs. Not only was his first college head coaching job at his alma mater, it was one of the most successful programs in Division II, with a rich football history. Don Faurot – who would go on to lead the University of Missouri, where the football field now bears his name – first coached in Kirksville and developed the split-T offense that revolutionized the game. The Bulldogs had won the MIAA conference 26 times and sent well over a dozen program alumni to the NFL. Still, when Nesbitt arrived, the team was coming off a 10-year stretch with a .320 win percentage, and some began to wonder if the program’s best days were in the past.    

“The word on the street was we could no longer be successful because of the highly selective admissions process,” Nesbitt said. “We’d have to recruit a smaller pool of prospects and athletes. We had been in national playoffs in 1990 and ’92, after the mission change, so not only did I think we could do that, we already had.”

To return the program to prominence Nesbitt’s first hire was a bright, young assistant with a promising future – Kellen. During his playing days at UCM Kellen was a four-year letterwinner, racking up 120 career tackles and earning specials teams player of the year in 2004. He spent three years on the UCM staff as the defensive backs coach.

“He was wired for it,” Gregg said. “There wasn’t much of a question that this was going to be a chosen profession. He was going to be a lifer. It was just a matter of what path he set himself upon.”

Coaching is the Nesbitt family business as both of his sons have followed in Gregg’s footsteps. In addition to Kellen’s career in college, younger brother Ryan is a high school head coach in Jackson, Missouri. While the Nesbitts all share a love of the game, their philosophies are rooted in faith, family and one other key ingredient.

“One thing he’s done, other than being an excellent football coach, is he instilled the family value in both Ryan and I,” Kellen said. “While coaching is important, and while football is important, we are an incredibly competitive family. Come play spades with us one time, you’ll be uncomfortable.”

That competitive spirit helped the Nesbitts right the ship for the Truman program, and more importantly, they did not sacrifice academics or integrity to do it. The team was awarded the conference sportsmanship trophy seven times, and more than a third of the players earned Academic All-GLVC honors each year. Gregg leveraged the school’s academic reputation – the very thing doubters said would hinder the program – and turned it into a key recruiting component. He reminded his players there is “life after ball” and a Truman degree can set them up for long-term success. That pitch worked, as nearly 80% of prospective players who come for official visits end up signing with the Bulldogs.    

“There isn’t anyone, collegiately football-wise, that dreamed about playing in Kirksville, Missouri,” Gregg said. “They dreamed about playing at Notre Dame, or Missouri or USC, and the experience here is just as good, and often times when you throw in our competitiveness of a Truman degree – a 40-year decision, not a four-year – obviously, you’re not falling when you come here, and the kids have embraced that culture that’s here.”

After a few rebuilding years at the start of Gregg’s tenure, the team saw some of its most successful seasons ever, including four consecutive campaigns of nine wins or more, a first in program history. The 2016 team was a co-conference champion, the first league title for the Bulldogs in nearly 30 years. Gregg also led the team to three consecutive wins in the America’s Crossroads Bowl. He leaves as the second-longest tenured coach in University history and has a winning percentage above .600 to his credit.

Coaching is a grueling profession, and at the collegiate level there really is no off season. Between games, recruiting, conditioning, camps and managing the day-to-day affairs of a large team and staff, it takes a mental and physical toll. While Gregg still looks like he could lace ’em up and give the Bulldogs a few carries in a pinch, at 66 he’s ready to move on to his own “life after ball.” Having someone in place he knows made the decision a little easier.

“The current kids that we recruited, I don’t like them, I love them. When you’re going to turn it over to somebody, you better have great confidence in who that is because you want the continued culture, the consistency,” Gregg said. “There was a long period of time I don’t know if I could even visualize life after football. That’s not the case now.”

Regardless of the family connection, it would be a safe bet the next coach would come from the existing staff. In coaching circles, the success of a program can be measured in the breadth of a head coach’s “tree,” and Gregg’s tree has plenty of branches. This fall, in the GLVC alone, three programs will be led by one-time members of his staff. As Kellen gradually took on more responsibility over the last 17 years coaching with his father it became apparent he would be a head coach sooner or later.  

“He’s passed me up, football wise, about four or five years ago,” Gregg said. “He certainly had that itch and that was going to happen one way or the other, whether it was here or some other place. The decision to elevate Kellen to [interim] head coach, in my opinion, not because he’s my son, was the only way to go. Not because of us, we’re not even in the equation. I’m talking for the hundred kids that are currently participating in football and have represented Truman tremendously well, and will continue to.”

“For me, my whole coaching career had been with dad up to this point. You knew at some point there was going to be that kind of transition, so it didn’t feel maybe as weird as it looks or just as unique as it looks, because it’s not unique to me,” Kellen said. “For 17 years I’ve been working and been his assistant. It may sound unique, but it wasn’t for us, it was day to day. It’s what we do.”

The life of a coach is often nomadic, and it’s nearly unheard of for an assistant of Kellen’s caliber to stay on the same staff for so long. Under his leadership as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, the Bulldogs were one of the top units in the conference, finishing first or second in the GLVC in rushing yards and points allowed in nine of 11 seasons. He coached 82 players to all-conference defensive honors, including 34 first-team selections. As special teams coordinator the team excelled in all four aspects of the kicking game. The fact that Kellen chose to stay in Kirksville when offers that would have advanced his career came his way speaks volumes about the family connection and culture at Truman.

“It’s been really good to be able to be this established in one community,” he said. “Now I have not just the coaching community here at Truman, or the Truman community, but there are people all over Kirksville now that are friends of the family. It’s been really good from that standpoint, and I’ve enjoyed that.”

Just like when his father took over the program, there may be an adjustment period for Kellen. From additional responsibilities associated with being the coach, to dealing with roster turnover as extended pandemic eligibility runs out, to coaches being poached by other schools, Kellen will have his work cut out for him. Nevertheless, he is confident in his ability and ready to do a job he’s been preparing for his entire adult life.

“I am excited on the next step up on just the increased chance for impact and influence. I’m trying not to take it for granted and trying to do something with it as we’re moving forward,” he said. “If we don’t have success early, we’ll keep working and figure it out and find a way to be successful out there.”

Gregg will always be a resource for his son, but Bulldog fans shouldn’t expect to see him in the stands every Saturday. With more time at his disposal, he plans to see some of Ryan’s games. He also has to be ready for whatever wife Jackie has in store for him.   

“My wife, she’s really the head coach. She already has her schedule planned,” Gregg said. “I’ve been so blessed. I tell our players all the time, I hope you’re as fortunate as I’ve been. I’m getting a little emotional as I say it, but there’s a little sadness from not being able to travel and do some of the things, and hopefully God will let me live long enough that we can still do that.”

Some of the more extensive travel plans may still have to wait, at least for a few more years. The day after Gregg retired from Truman, the head coaching job came open at Kirksville High School. Although he wasn’t looking to jump back into the game, Kellen’s son Blake is a freshman this fall. The opportunity to deepen another family connection and make a difference in the lives of more young people was too good to let pass. Based on all the text messages, calls and emails he gets from former players around the holidays or Father’s Day, Gregg knows what a difference a coach can make in someone’s life. There is something in it for him too.

“This has been an impactful profession,” he said. “I am doing exactly, in my opinion, what I was created to do. This will be my 45th year and I feel like I’ve never worked a day in my life. The kids keep me young.”