[Football] Bessler Announces Two Coaches to Football Staff

Doane Head Football Coach Chris Bessler announced the hiring of two assistant coaches to fill out his staff for the 2018 season. Malcolm Pearson has been hired as defensive backs coach with John Reeves hired as offensive line coach.

Pearson comes to the Tigers after spending last season at Bacone College (Okla.). A four-year letter winner at the University of Miami, he was a member of the 1991 NCAA National Championship team that went 12-0 and defeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Over four years, the Hurricanes went 32-6 overall with three finishes in the Top 10 of the Associated Press national poll.

Following his collegiate career, he signed a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos. However, an injury prevented Pearson from fulfilling his professional dream. After attempting a comeback with the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe and the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League, Pearson returned to football in a coaching capacity.

Collegiately, Pearson has coached at Texas College, Bethel College (Kan.), Ave Maria University (Fla.) and Bacone as the defensive backs coach. He has also served as a key recruiter for those institutions.

Reeves returns to coaching after three years away. A Crete native and NAIA Second Team All-American for Doane in 1985, Reeves was a three-time all-conference selection on the offensive line during his playing days for the Tigers.

Publisher of The Crete News since his graduation at Doane, Reeves remained in the Crete community and started his coaching career with the Tigers. He served as offensive line coach from 1986-90, working with fellow assistants Roger Hughes, current Stetson University head coach, Lance Leipold, current Buffalo University head coach, and Bob Stitt, current offensive analyst for Oklahoma State University.

In 1991, Reeves joined the Crete High School coaching staff. With the Cardinals, he worked with the offensive and defensive lines. Crete would win four state championships with two runner-up finishes during Reeves time with the Cardinals. Coaching with Crete from 1991-2015, the Cardinals qualified for the state playoffs on 20 occasions.

In 2014, Doane released their all-time team versus Nebraska Wesleyan as part of the festivities leading into the 100th meeting between the two teams. Reeves was one of five offensive linemen selected. His Tiger teams went 4-0 against NWU, averaging 321 yards offensively the four meetings.