Cory Peoples enter his first season as an assistant with the South Carolina State University football program. He previously worked as a defensive back coach at Charleston Southern for two seasons.
Peoples helped mentor cornerbacks Malcolm Jackson and Troy McGowens to All-Big South Conference honors in 2015. His group of defensive backs was part of the reason CSU led the nation in total defense for much of the year en route to winning the Big South championship and advancing to the FCS Playoffs.
Jackson led CSU with 12 pass break-ups, and often blanketed his side of the field while covering the opposition's top receiver. McGowens enjoyed a big performance in CSU's regular season win over The Citadel, had two sacks against ETSU and teamed with Jackson to give the Bucs one of the top corner tandems in the FCS ranks.
At safety, DJ Curl and Corbin Jackson gave the Bucs solid play and veteran leadership in 2015. Both helped CSU engineer one of the most dominant defensive stretches in Big South history in October, as the Bucs held three straight league opponents to less than 200 yards total offense.
In 2014, Peoples helped lead a secondary that was a factor in CSU's leading the Big South in total defense, pass defense and run defense. Defensive backs Troy McGowens and Demaris Freeman were each named to the Big South's All-Conference 2nd Team following the year.
McGowens made a big step forward from his sophomore season in emerging as one of the best cornerbacks in the conference. He led the Big South in pass breakups, and snared four interceptions. Freeman rounded out his stellar four-year career with 62 tackles, good for second most on the team. The safety helped lead CSU's veteran defense and picked up a season-high eight stops in the Bucs' second consecutive win over The Citadel.
Peoples, a 2005 South Carolina graduate who spent the 2005-2007 seasons on the Philadelphia Eagles' roster, comes to CSU after spending one year as secondary coach at Saint Augustine University (N.C.). He has also coached at Clark Atlanta University, Georgia Military College, and Keenan High School in Columbia, S.C.
“I’m thankful and excited for the opportunity to join Coach Pough staff here at SC State,” Peoples said at the time of his hiring. “I’m looking forward to getting to work and helping to build off some of the success they had here last year.”
A native of Bishopville, S.C., Peoples was an all-state quarterback and defensive back at Bishopville High School and earned a scholarship to South Carolina. He starred in the defensive backfield as an upperclassman for Lou Holtz’s squad, tallying 74 tackles over his final two seasons.
Peoples played for the Eagles from 2005-2007 before spending four seasons with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
Peoples is married to the former Keilah Speed and the couple has a eight (8) year old son, Cory, Jr., and one (1) year old daughter Isabella Peoples.