Jesse Burleson | Head CoachBurleson is in his 14th season as the head coach of the HSU program. He has produced a record of 97-33 and ranks second all-time at Hardin-Simmons in wins.
He was named the head coach on December 10, 2010, replacing Jimmie Keeling. He was the assistant head coach at HSU from 2008-10 and served two years as just the offensive line coach. He has coached the Cowboys to conference titles in 2015 and 2023 and was named the ASC Coach of the Year last season.
Burleson has coached the offensive line at Hardin-Simmons for 19 seasons and has produced 14 All-American offensive linemen, including Miguel Valdez last season. He has had two centers Josh Knox and Vic Rodriguez named as the Rimington Trophy winner as the nation’s top center. He has coached five ASC offensive lineman of the year.
Overall as a head coach, he has produced 31 total All-Americans for a total of 40 times in his career and has 153 first or second-team All-ASC selections. His team has led the league in most academic All-ASC selections in 12 of his first 13 seasons. Overall, 556 players have earned academic All-ASC awards in his tenure.
Burleson has led the Cowboys to six NCAA playoff berths (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023). The Cowboys have been nationally ranked in the top 25 of the D3football.com and AFCA polls for 91 straight weeks and have been in the top 10 in 56 of those weeks. Burleson has made defending Shelton Stadium a strong tenet of the program and the Cowboys are 35-6 at home since 2014.
Started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at HSU in 1999 and coached at Clyde, South Grand Prairie, Temple and Odessa Permian High Schools. He was the offensive coordinator for former HSU player Darren Allman at legendary Odessa Permian prior to coming to HSU.
He played at Hardin-Simmons from 1995-98, where he was a four-year letterman. He took over as the starting center midway through his freshman year and started the rest of the way. He was a team captain, three-time all-conference selection, twice was named all-region and was a four-time academic all-ASC selection. He won three ASC titles as a player.
Has been married to his wife Lois for 27 years and both graduated from Hardin-Simmons. Has two daughters Marissa an HSU grad who works in Washington D.C. and Lainey graduated last year from Hardin-Simmons and is a coach in Gunter. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hardin-Simmons with a bachelor’s in education.and earned a master’s degree from HSU in 2017 in counseling and human development.
