East Texas Baptist taps Joshua Eargle as new football coach
By: Lance Snow
Updated: January 18, 2013
MARSHALL, Texas - ETBU hires Joshua Eargle as their next head football coach. He replaces Mark Sartain, who resigned following the 2012 season after six years at ETBU.
ETBU will be Eargle's first head coaching job. Prior to his hiring at ETBU, Eargle was the defensive coordinator at NCAA Division II Southeastern Oklahoma St. Univervsity.
"It's a great school up here," Eargle said. "Our defense was fortunate enough to finish 29th in the country and I had a great experience in southeastern Oklahoma."
Eargle's hiring is a homecoming for the East Texas native. The newly hired hired head coach is a Sulpher Springs high school graduate and former defensive coordinator at Hallsville high in Texas.
"Fired up to get back closer to family. Get back to God's country and the piney woods of East Texas."
His familiarity with East Texas was a selling point for ETBU. Eargle's recruited the area for Nicholls State, the University of Arkansas-Monticello, and Ouachita Baptist University. He has also coached in the area as the defensive coordinator for Hallsville High School in 2011 when they were Bi-District finalists. Coming from Sulphur Springs, Texas, where he was a Texas Sports Writers 4A All-State lineman, he played for his uncle, Chuck King, before moving on to the University of Memphis where he was a three-year letterman.
Coaching both sides of the ball, Eargle has been an offensive and defensive coordinator in his young career. This past year he was the defensive coordinator at Southeastern Oklahoma State (NCAA DII) and served as the offensive coordinator for the University of Arkansas-Monticello (NCAA DII) in 2010.
"With Coach Eargle's experience as a recruiting coordinator, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator, he will bring a good working knowledge of the game to our program," stated Reeves.
Post season games have also graced Eargle at the NCAA Division I level along with conference championships. He has coached in four bowl games, winning two as an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi in the 2007 GMAC Bowl and the 2004 New Orleans Bowl. He took part in the 2010 Capital One Bowl on the staff at Louisiana State University and the 2003 Liberty Bowl at Southern Mississippi.
In his first year as a graduate assistant at Southern Mississippi, he was a part of the 2003 Conference USA Championship with a perfect 8-0 record. In his second stint at Southern Mississippi, they won the Conference USA-East Championship in 2006 at 6-2.
He has made coaching stops at the NCAA Division I BCS (Bowl Championship Series) level at Southern Mississippi ('03, '04, '06) and Louisiana State University ('09). In 2007 and 2008, he coached at the NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Series) level at Nicholls State. Making stops at NCAA Division II programs, he has also coached at Southeastern Oklahoma State ('12), the University of Arkansas-Monticello ('10), and Ouachita Baptist University ('05).
Under his guidance, he has had 10 players earn first-team all-conference and 17 players earn an all-conference award. At every program he has coached for, at least one player has earned a first-team all-conference award.
This past season at Southeastern Oklahoma State as the defensive coordinator, his pass defense was the 11th best in NCAA Division II and first in the Great American Conference. The overall defense finished 29th in the nation out of 156 programs and was third in the Great Amercian Conference.
The 2001 graduate of the University of Memphis was an offensive guard that earned the Top Tiger Award which was presented by head coach Tommy West. He finished with a degree in Exercise and Sport Science. He then earned a Master's Degree in sports administration from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2004. He is married to Kristen and they have two daughters.
