Marquase Lovings returned to the Nicholls State University football program in the summer of 2021 for his second stint as defensive line coach. He coached the defensive front in 2018, helping the Colonels to their first of back-to-back championships. Lovings then spent two seasons at Austin Peay.
Lovings was named interim head coach in the fall of 2020 at APSU after serving as associate head coach for the Governors in 2019 where he oversaw the defensive line. Under his leadership, that unit helped Austin Peay’s squad post one of the best defensive seasons in program history. The defense ranked among the FCS’ top 20 in rushing defense (8th), total defense (12th), scoring defense (15th), and third-down defense (16th). Josephus Smith and Shaun Whittinghill each earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors and John Wesley Whiteside was named to the league’s All-Newcomer team.
Lovings previously joined Nicholls after coaching at Louisiana for seven seasons. In 2017, he coached the defensive line after directing the running backs for six years. While at UL, Lovings was a 2014 Broyles Award Nominee, which is given to the top assistant coach, and in 2018, he was a recipient of the 35 Under 35 AFCA Coaches Leadership Institute.
Under his direction, former Ragin’ Cajuns running backs Elijah McGuire and Alonzo Harris combined to rush for over 3,800 yards and 48 touchdowns during a two-year span (2013-14) that saw each earn All-Sun Belt Conference honors. In 2014, McGuire earned Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors by the Sun Belt Conference. McGuire went on to rush for over 4,300 and 42 touchdowns while at ULL and was a sixth-round draft pick by the New York Jets.
During the 2013 season, the duo each combined for over 1,800 yards and 22 rushing touchdowns on the season and each earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. The Cajuns finished second in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense (204.5) and 26th nationally.
In 2011, Lovings’ helped Harris rush for 700 yards and eight touchdowns to earn Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors. Before joining the Cajuns, Lovings spent four seasons at Mississippi State (2007-10), first as a defensive quality control coach before taking over as defensive graduate assistant for his final two seasons. The Bulldogs had several standout defensive linemen including Titus Brown and Fletcher Cox. Brown went on to play with the Cleveland Browns from 2008-12, and Cox went on to become the 12th pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2012 NFL Draft.
A graduate of and former walk-on tight end with Howard University, Lovings also has high school coaching on his resume with stints at Dunbar High in Washington, D.C. and his alma mater, P.K. Yonge High in Gainesville.
He earned his masters in Sports Administration from Mississippi State in 2008 and pursued a doctorate in education at MSU.
THE LOVINGS FILE
Personal: Hometown: Gainesville, Fla.
Coaching Experience: Mississippi State (2007-08), defensive quality control; Mississippi State (2009-10), graduate assistant; Louisiana (2011-16), running backs; Louisiana (2017), defensive line; Nicholls (2018), defensive line; Austin Peay (2019), defensive line; Austin Peay (2020) interim head coach; Nicholls (2021), defensive line.
Playing Experience: Was a walk-on tight end at Howard University (2002-03).
Education: Received a bachelor’s of arts in broadcast journalism from Howard University (2006) and a master’s of sport administration from Mississippi State (2008).
