John Pearce enters his seventh season as Sul Ross State University's head football coach and his 29th season as a football coach. He was selected as a member of the NCAA South RAC Committee in 2019 and will also serve on the NCAA Football Rules Committees in 2020. Pearce also is a longstanding member of the AFCA and THSCA Association. In Alpine, he is currently a member of the Kiwanis Club.
Pearce is a recipient the 2014-2015 Academic Excellence in Coaching at Sul Ross. He’s coached six ASC Academic All-Conference Players, 30 ASC All-Conference players, one All-American and one All-South Region player.
Pearce and his players are active in the Alpine community through community service efforts. The team takes part in the Kiwanis Highway Clean Up, where players help the city with Keep Texas Beautiful. Players help set up fundraiser events for the Alpine Public Library and the Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend.
In his third year as head coach, Pearce guided the Lobos to their first winning season in ten years. The Lobos finished the 2016 season with a 6-4 mark, going 4-2 in ASC competition.
Sul Ross finished the 2016 season third in the ASC, good for its highest finish since 2012 when they placed fourth. It is also its second-highest finish after tying Hardin-Simmons for first place in 1996.
Pearce was recognized as the 2016 ASC Coach of the Year by the American Southwest Conference.
Pearce has enjoyed coaching in the state of Texas for 16 years. Before taking over the Lobos, he served on the staff at Blinn College. Prior to Blinn, Pearce coached nine years at Prairie View A&M University, including two as defensive coordinator. He has also coached at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Bowie State University in Prince George County, MD, Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, and Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA.
A 1991 graduate of the University of Delaware, majoring in health and physical education, Pearce received a master’s degree in secondary education from Bowie State. He and his wife, Samantha Krumpe, have two sons, Max and Calvin. Max is a graduate of University of Texas living in Austin. Calvin is a graduate of University of Minnesota at Morris.
