Jesse Correll returns to the Shepherd staff as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Correll came to Shepherd after spending three seasons as an assistant football coach and the offensive coordinator for the Shippensburg University football team in 2020. In addition to his role as the offensive coordinator, Correll was the quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach.
Correll made an immediate impact in his first season at Shippensburg, coaching the 2018 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Offensive Athlete of the Year (wide receiver Josh Gontarek) and the PSAC Eastern Division Freshman of the Year (quarterback Brycen Mussina) and directing an offense that ranked ninth in the nation in passing yards per game (308.1) and 18th in first downs (249). SU’s offense paced the PSAC in passing yards, completions (258), fourth-down conversions (15) and fourth-down conversion percentage (62.5).
Gontarek, Shippensburg’s first PSAC Offensive Athlete of the Year since Harlon Hill-winner Zach Zulli in 2012, ranked 10th in the nation in receiving yards (1,097) and was second in the PSAC with 74 receptions. Against division front-runners West Chester and Kutztown, Gontarek combined for 19 receptions, 313 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Mussina, in his debut season, led the PSAC in five major passing categories: touchdowns (32), yards (3,376), completions (254), attempts (421) and yards-per-game average (306.9). He ranked second in the nation in passing touchdowns, sixth in passing yards and ninth in points responsible for (192). Mussina was the only conference quarterback to eclipse both 3,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns in 2018 – both totals which rank third in SU single-season history.
In 2019, Correll directed an offense that included All-PSAC First Team wide receiver Winston Eubanks, who finished sixth in the PSAC with 896 receiving yards and All-PSAC Second Team running back Luke Durkin, who finished the season ranked sixth in the PSAC in rushing yards (918) and rushing touchdowns (10) despite not having a carry in the first three weeks of the season. It was the most single-season rushing yards by an SU player in five seasons.
Prior to his arrival at Shippensburg in the spring of 2018, Correll spent two seasons at Shepherd as the passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach. He had been promoted to the role of Shepherd’s offensive coordinator in January 2018.
Correll was an instrumental contributor to a coaching staff that instructed the Rams to 1,051 points over the course of the 2016-17 seasons. As Shepherd’s quarterbacks coach, Correll mentored Harlon Hill Trophy finalists in consecutive seasons: Connor Jessop (2017) and Jeff Ziemba (2016). As wide receivers coach, Correll instructed All-American Billy Brown and Ryan Feiss. As passing game coordinator, Correll worked with All-American tight end DJ Cornish.
In 2017, Shepherd’s offense ranked second in the nation in points per game (48.5) and total offense per game (527.4) while quarterback Jessop, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Offensive Player of the Year, finished fourth in the balloting for the Harlon Hill Trophy. During Correll’s most recent stint at his alma mater, the Ram offense broke 31 school records in two years.
Correll spent the 2015 season as the offensive coordinator at Clarion University. He helped the Golden Eagles break eight offensive school records en route to a 7-4 mark. Clarion quarterback Connor Simmons ranked fourth nationally in passing yards (3,582) and passing touchdowns (34) in 2015. The team averaged 33.27 points per game and gained the school’s first-ever Top 25 ranking.
Correll previously coached at Stevenson University where he helped guide the Mustangs to an 8-3 record and a 29-7 win over Bethany in the ECAC Southeast Bowl in 2014. The offense scored a record 280 points (25.5 ppg) that season.
In four seasons in Stevenson, Correll coached 10 All-Middle Atlantic Conference selections on offense, including K.K. Smith, the 2012 Rookie of the Year who ran for a school-record 1,357 yards to go along with 11 touchdowns. That year Stevenson also set the standard for rushing yards as a team with 2,006 while ranking third in the conference with an average of 200.6 per game.
In 41 games under Correll, the Mustangs had five players rush for over 100 yards a total of 22 times and five players total over 100 yards receiving 11 times.
Prior to coaching at Stevenson, Correll spent three seasons as the wide receivers coach at Shepherd from 2007-09. The team went 10-2 in 2007, won the WVIAC title, and qualified for the NCAA D-II Playoffs.
A 2005 Shepherd University graduate with a major recreation and leisure studies, Correll was a two-time All-WVIAC second team selection at wide receiver and still ranks in the top 10 in school history in receptions (98), receiving yards (1,760) and touchdown receptions (13). He played in 40 career games and had a catch in 32, finishing his career with at least one reception in his last 18.
As a senior in 2004, Correll totaled 702 receiving yards helping the Rams win the 2004 WVIAC championship. He also earned a master’s degree in 2009 from Shepherd in student development and administration.
Correll also coached for two seasons at Park View High School in Sterling, Virginia, including one as the team's offensive coordinator in 2006. The Patriots averaged 31.1 points and 362.5 yards per game en route to earning the number two seed in the Virginia 2A state playoffs.
A native of Port Republic, Maryland and a 1999 graduate of Calvert High School, Correll was a four-year starter at running back and defensive back and a first team all SMAC selection. He rushed for a school record 236 yards in a single game in 1998.
Correll and his wife, McKenzie, have two daughters, Amelia Dean and Leila Lee.
