The Peacock coaching staff is ready to attack the 2021 season at full strength thanks to three tremendous hires over the last month. Head Coach
Jason Hoskins has a new defensive staff to go along with Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator
Ben Curran, Wide Receivers Coach and Recruiting Coordinator
Jordan Knock and Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach
Tim Morrison.
The defense for the Peacocks will be led by new Defensive Coordinator
Marlon Watson. Watson will also work directly with the linebackers. Additionally,
Turrell Foster will join the defensive staff and coach the defensive line, while
Rhett Mizer earned a full-time position coaching the secondary after an outstanding two years as a graduate assistant with Upper Iowa.
A full bio of each of the three new coaches is below. The Peacock football team officially reports to campus on Sunday, Aug. 8 and will get on the turf in Harms-Eischeid Stadium for their first practice on Monday, Aug. 9.
Marlon Watson joins the Peacock for his first season with Upper Iowa football in 2021 after three seasons at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C. Watson will serve as the team's defensive coordinator and coach the linebackers.
Prior to ECSU, Watson spent three seasons working with the defense at Alabama A&M University. Before his stop at AA&MU, Watson served as the linebacker coach at Georgia Military College.
Watson served as the defensive back coach, co-special teams coordinator, and junior varsity defensive coordinator at Bethel University in Tennessee before moving to GMC. During his time at Bethel, the Wildcats won back to back Mid-South West Conference Championships (2011-12). The Wildcats also appeared in the NAIA playoff series twice, and in the 1
st round of the 2012 playoffs they beat Georgetown College, who was ranked #1 in the country. During the 2012 season, Bethel was the #1 Pass Defense in the Mid-South Conference. Before arriving at Bethel he was the defensive coordinator & linebacker coach at Joliet West High School in Joliet, Illinois; he also served as the assistant track coach.
The Chicago, Ill. native played linebacker at Northern Illinois University under Joe Novak. While at NIU he was part of a squad that defeated Maryland, Alabama, and Iowa State in 2003. The Huskies rose to a No. 10 national ranking en route to a 10-2 mark. By the end of his collegiate career at NIU, the Huskies were MAC West Co-Champions in 2001, 2002, and 2004, and 2004 Silicon Valley Bowl Champions.
He earned his Bachelor's Degree in communications from Northern Illinois and then completed his Master's Degree in education at Bethel University.
Turrell Foster joins Upper Iowa for his first season with Peacock football in 2021 after three seasons at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Foster will coach the defensive line.
Foster coached under UIU Athletics Hall of Famer Jesse Montalto for the last three seasons at Iowa Central. During his first season with the Tritons, he led the running backs group, but in 2019 he took over as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
Prior to Iowa Central, Foster coached at Ellsworth Community College. Foster helped lead a Panther defense in 2016 that held opponents to 296.8 total yards per game to rank 22nd in the nation. Ellsworth surrendered 166.4 passing yards per game to rank 18th and 22.09 offensive points per game to rank 22nd. The unit also had 27 takeaways and 38 sacks while blocking four extra points and returning two of those for scores. The defense ranked among the Top-20 in the nation for rushing yards allowed a game with 50 plus sacks while creating 30 interceptions for the secondary.
In the spring of 2015, Foster had a short stint as a graduate assistant at Southwest Minnesota State where he coached linebackers.
Foster graduated from Winona State University in 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in health promotion. He played linebacker for the Warriors accumulating over 100 tackles and double-digit tackles for loss during his career.
Foster has two sons, Elijah and Karder.
Rhett Mizer enters the 2021 football season as an assistant coach after two years as a graduate assistant with the defense. Mizer will work with the Peacock secondary this season.
Mizer came to Upper Iowa from Bethany College where he graduated in December of 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in sports management and was a four-year starter on their football team. Mizer succeeded both on and off the field at Bethany College as he posted an impressive 3.96 cumulative GPA and ended his career as the Bison all-time and single season leading tackler.
Additionally, Mizer was selected as All-Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference three times in his career, he was selected as the team MVP his junior season and served as a team captain during his senior season. Mizer is set to coach the Peacock defensive backs as he played safety all four years at Bethany.
