Gordon “Greg” Gregory, a veteran with more than 30 years of experience at both FBS and FCS programs, joins the Spartan football staff this year as quarterbacks coach.
Gregory served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under fellow new Spartan assistant coach Donald Hill-Eley at Morgan State last season. Last season, the Bears went 5-3 in MEAC play and tied for third place in the conference standings. MSU was third in the conference in rushing offense last season (182.8 yards per game) and scored 30 or more points four times against MEAC opponents.
Prior to joining the Bears, Gregory has served as offensive coordinator at South Alabama (2009-11), South Florida (2007-08), Ohio University (2001-03), the University of Richmond (2000) and Army (1989-97). He was also head coach at Missouri Southern from 1998-99.
At FCS start-up South Alabama, Gregory’s offensive charges averaged at least 400 yards and 40 points per game in two of his three years there. In its first-ever season of competition (2009), USA recorded three games with at least 500 yards of total offense and scored more than 40 points on four occasions, including posting three outings with 50-plus points. Jaguar quarterbacks combined to complete 64.3 percent of their pass attempts.
The USA offensive attack averaged nearly 440 yards and better than 41 points per contest in its second season (2010), with Gregory’s quarterbacks increasing the program’s passing total by 35 yards per game. Overall, five individuals completed 62 percent of their attempts for 2,073 yards and 17 touchdowns against just five interceptions for a 154.95 efficiency rating, a figure that would have ranked third in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision had the Jaguars been eligible.
Gregory worked as an assistant at USF from 2005-08 and served as offensive coordinator in his last two seasons there. One of his protégés at USF was quarterback Matt Grothe, who ranked in the top 30 in the nation in total offense in 2007 and 2008. The Bulls averaged over 400 yards of total offense per game in those two seasons, went 17-9 and made two bowl appearances. Gregory was on staff for the first four bowl berths in USF history.
Prior to arriving at South Florida, Gregory was the offensive coordinator at Ohio from 2001-03. His efforts in 2002 helped the Bobcats average 32 points per outing in Mid-American Conference action, the school’s highest figure in 25 years.
With Gregory on staff, the University of Richmond won the 2000 Atlantic 10 football championship and finished the year 10-3, which included a first-round Division I FCS (I-AA at the time) playoff victory over Youngstown State.
Gregory was the head coach at Missouri Southern in 1998 and ’99, guiding the Lions to a two-win improvement in his second season after inheriting a program that forfeited all its victories the year prior to his appointment.
Gregory’s tenure at Missouri Southern followed a 16-year stint serving in various capacities at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., including offensive coordinator duties from 1989-97. Army made the first four bowl appearances and led the nation in rushing four times during his tenure with the program. The Black Knights went 10-2, setting a school record for wins in a season, in 1996. Gregory also coached an NFL draftee at West Point in quarterback Ron McAda, who was drafted by the Packers in the seventh round of the 1997 draft.
While coaching at Army, Gregory was a commissioned officer with the rank of captain from 1982-85 as well.
Gregory earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Richmond in 1980, lettering three times as a quarterback for the Spiders. He would go on to earn 24 credit hours in sports psychology graduate studies at Virginia, where he served as a graduate assistant on the Cavalier staff in 1980 and ’81.
He has two sons, Tate (31) and Grant (28), and a daughter, Layne (23). Tate is currently offensive coordinator and quarterbacks/running backs coach at the University of Charleston (W.Va.). Grant played quarterback at both USF and Kansas State before a stint with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
Gregory, 56, was born in Suffolk, Va. and raised in Richmond.
