MSU Athletics

Alex Herron enters his eighth season as an assistant coach and takes over offensive coordinator duties for the first time in 2019. He previously handled offensive line chores and ground game coordinator.

His offensive line units have produced four Lone Star Conference Offensive Linemen of the Year including Ken Van Heule in 2012, Shadow Stokes in 2014, Alfredo Moreno in 2015 and Akoakoa Paleka-Kennedy in 2016.

Peleka-Kennedy also became the program's second player in as many years to earn a national honor claiming the Rimington Award as the best center in NCAA Dvision II.

Under Herron's direction, the Mustangs posted the top rushing offense in the Lone Star Conference in 2013, averaging 261.9 yards a game that ranked 10th in NCAA Division II. It was a part of the 64th ranked total offense in Division II (415.9 yards a game) and the 20th best scoring offense in the nation (39.2 points per game).

The Mustangs offensive line paved the way for All-American running back Keidrick Jackson to post his third consecutive 1,000-yard season and become just the eighth runner in LSC history to gather 4,000 career yards with his 4,004.  The unit, paced by first-team All-Lone Star Conference and All-Super Region 4 performers Bryan Keith and Shadow Stokes, along with All-LSC second-teamer Will Harris, plowed their way to a third straight conference rushing offense title.

MSU's offensive line flourished in 2012 as each starter gained All-Lone Star Conference mention which included three first-teamers in Van Heule, Joe Unga and Justen Tyler and a second teamer in Tino Tuilata while Bryan Keith gained honorable mention.
 
The offensive line paved the way for NCAA Division II's third-ranked rushing attack at 323.9 yards per game while leading the nation in sacks allowed permitting four in 11 games.
 
Van Heule also garnered LSC Offensive Lineman of the Year honors and earned Daktronics All-Super Region Four first-team honors.
 
Four members of the unit gained All-America mention including Van Heule (Associated Press, Daktronics, Hansen's Football Gazette, D2Football.com, Beyond Sports Network), Tuilata (Hansen's Football Gazette), Tyler (Beyond Sports Network) and Unga (Beyond Sports Network).

In 2014, D2Football.com second-team All-American center Shadow Stokes paced an offensive line unit that paved the way for the nation's ninth-best rushing attack (274.5 yards per game) to fuel NCAA Division II's 13th-best total offense at 493.7 yards per game. Stokes, a first-team all-conference performer, was joined by Case Winkler (second team) and John Rowell (honorable mention) as All-LSC performers.

Herron mentored a pair of first-team All-LSC performers in 2015 including offensive lineman of the year Alfredo Moreno and Rowell while Denzell Dotson-Sopko earned second-team honors. Joel Onyia and Paleka-Kennedy garnered honorable mention as the Mustangs rolled up 400.1 yards of total offense per game (83rd in NCAA Division II) including 191.4 rushing yards a game to rank 49th nationally and third in the LSC.

Moreno earned first-team All-America accolades from Don Hansen's Football Gazette, second-team honors from D2CCA (sports information directors) and was an honorable mention pick by D2Football.com.

Paleka-Kennedy and Onyia gained first-team All-LSC honors while Dotson-Sopko, Kevin Fisher and Islam Sbeih garnered honorable mention as the Mustangs continued to roll in 2016. The unit paved the way for the league's second-best rushing attack churning out 189 yards per game on the ground (39th in NCAA Division II) allowing the second fewest tackles for loss (6.8) and sacks (1.0) per game in the LSC. Overall, MSU boasted the third-best total offense in the LSC with 426.1 yards per game (55th in NCAA Division II).

Anchored by All-Americans Sbeih and AJ Roland, MSU Texas racked up 175.3 yards per game on the ground in 2017 to rank third in the Lone Star Conference and helping the Mustangs to an unbeaten regular season.

Roland repeated and Kevin Fisher earned All-America honors in 2018 as MSU Texas churned out 180.5 yards per game on the ground to rank third in the LSC. The offensive line surrendered just five sacks to help quarterback Layton Rabb and running back Vincent Johnson to All-America honors as the Mustangs rolled up 506.2 yards per game.
 
Prior to arriving at Midwestern State, Herron served three seasons as an offensive graduate assistant first at West Virginia in 2007 before moving on to Michigan in 2008 and 2009. He also spent the 2011 season as an offensive assistant at the University of Cincinnati.
 
Playing Career
Herron enjoyed a standout collegiate career at South Florida as four-year starter at center for the Bulls earning All-Conference USA third-team honors as a senior in 2004. He was the team's 2002 Offensive Lineman of the Year and earned USF's First Teamer Award as a senior.
 
Personal
Herron graduated from USF in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.

The Herron File
Graduate Assistant at West Virginia (Off.) - 2007
Graduate Assistant at Michigan (Off.) - 2008-09
Assistant Coach at Cincinnati (Off.) - 2011
Assistant Coach at Midwestern State (OL) - 2012
Run Game Coordinator at Midwestern State - 2013-2018
Offensive Coordinator at Midwestern State - 2019-