Troy University Athletics
Offensive Coordinator Mark Fleetwood
11/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
Mark Fleetwood returns for his third season as offensive coordinator at Troy, but he is no stranger to the program. This is his third stint with the Trojans, as he served as defensive backs coach in 1991-92 and again from 1997-2000.
During his 18-year career as a college assistant, Fleetwood has always been associated with winners, posting a cumulative 119-86 record at five schools, including six playoff appearances and one bowl game. Even more impressive is his list of former players, which includes more than 20 all-conference players, nine of whom moved onto play professional football.
Fleetwood's coaching career began at his alma mater, South Carolina, as a graduate assistant to Joe Morrison in 1984. He then moved to Auburn as a graduate assistant before accepting his first full-time coaching position at Jacksonville State in 1985. He spent the next six seasons with the Gamecocks, coaching running backs, wide receivers, defensive backs and special teams at various times from 1985-90. During that time, the Gamecocks made three NCAA Division II playoff appearances and posted a 45-19 cumulative record, including a berth in the 1989 national championship game.
His first stint with the Trojans followed from 1991-92, when he helped the program transition from Division II to Division I-AA in Larry Blakeney's first two seasons as head coach. From there, Fleetwood moved to Tennessee-Chattanooga for the 1993-94 seasons, where he served as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, helping to coach quarterbacks, receivers and running backs.
After that, he moved to Habersham Central High School in Mt. Airy, Ga., in 1995 and 1996, where he served as head football coach, assistant athletic director and assistant principal.
He returned to Troy in 1997, again working with the team's defensive backs and special teams. During his second stay with the Trojans, the team won a pair of Southland Football League titles (1999, 2000) and advanced to the I-AA playoffs in three of his four seasons. Fourteen of his Troy players earned all-conference honors under Fleetwood during that time, including four players who were also named All-America.
Shortly after the end of the 2000 season, Fleetwood was named assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., where he spent two seasons. In 2002, the Bulldogs were a balanced offensive attack, averaging 25.4 points per game while tallying 2,638 yards passing and 1,829 yards rushing. They averaged more than 370 yards total offense per game, with quarterback Jeff Klein setting the school single-season records for passing yards and total offense.
A former kicker and punter at the University of South Carolina, Fleetwood played for coaches Jim Carlen and Morrison from 1979-83, earning All-America and All-South Independent honors during the 1982 season. He played in both the Hall of Fame Bowl and Gator Bowl with the Gamecocks and signed a free-agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys in 1984.
In high school, Fleetwood was an all-state quarterback and kicker for legendary head coach Wayman Creel at Lakeside in Atlanta, Ga. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from South Carolina in 1983 and a master's in education from Jacksonville State in 1987.
Born on Oct. 19, 1960, Fleetwood is married to the former Kimberly Gilmore of Eufaula, Ala. They have a four-year-old daughter, Irelan.
