Jason Gesser

Jason John Gesser (born May 31, 1979) is an American college football former player and assistant athletic director who is currently the offensive coordinator at Seton Catholic High School in Vancouver, Washington.

He played quarterback for Washington State Cougars, Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League (AFL), Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL).

After his playing career ended, Gesser went into coaching.

Gesser led WSU to two straight 10 win seasons from 2001-2002, and finished seventh in the 2002 Heisman Trophy race.

During his career, he appeared in 40 games, made 35 starts, led the Pac-10 in passing yards as junior, was the first Cougar to throw for 3,000 yards twice and led WSU to a 2001 Sun Bowl victory and to the 2003 Rose Bowl.

He is second, only to Luke Falk, in having the most wins of any quarterback in Washington State history.

Gesser and USC quarterback Carson Palmer were named Pac-10 Co-Offensive Players of the Year in 2002.

The Honolulu native earned First-team All-America honors and finished his Cougar career as a three time All-Pac-10 selection, and a four-time Academic All-Pac-10 honoree.

Gesser left WSU owning school records in a number of offensive categories, some which included career starts (34), total yards (9,007), pass attempts (1,118), completions (611), touchdown passes (70), and consecutive games with a touchdown pass (25).

Gesser was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in April 2003.

He spent the entire season with the team but did not see any playing time behind Steve McNair, Billy Volek, and Neil O'Donnell.

He was released after the 2004 preseason.

On May 5, 2005, Gesser was signed by the Calgary Stampeders.

He started the season as Henry Burris' backup, but took over the starting role when Burris tore a ligament in his left thumb.

He only started two games, both victories, before spraining his ankle.

He finished the season completing 23 of 42 passes for 356 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions.

In 2006 Gesser signed with the AFL's Utah Blaze.

He was the backup at the beginning of the season before replacing the injured Joe Germaine.

He completed 89 of 145 passes for 1,092 yards, 23 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

After going winless in four starts, he was replaced by Andy Kelly.

During the 2006 off-season he was a quarterbacks coach at Federal Way High School in Federal Way, Washington.

Gesser saw little playing time behind a healthy Germaine in 2007, completing two of three passes for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Gesser said his ultimate goal is coaching at the college level, preferably at Washington State.

In 2007, he was offensive coordinator at Parkland's Franklin Pierce High School.

He and fellow ex-Cougar Ryan Leaf both campaigned for the position of quarterbacks coach at WSU when it became available after the 2007 season.

That job eventually went to Offensive Coordinator Todd Sturdy.

In the spring of 2009, Gesser was named as the head football coach at Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish, Washington.

He succeeded Bill Marsh, who had resigned after ten seasons with the school.

Gesser coached the Crusaders for two seasons, then left in 2011 to become a graduate assistant at WSU in Pullman.

Gesser returned to the Palouse in May 2011, then crossed the state border in June and joined the staff at Idaho as running backs coach in neighboring Moscow.

In 2012 he was the interim head coach of the Idaho Vandals.

From 2014 to 2018 he was the assistant athletic director at Washington State.

Gesser attended Saint Louis School in Honolulu and played football for Cal Lee.

In his junior year he was named to the all-state team and led the Crusaders to a state championship.

In his senior year, St. Louis ranked as high as fourth in the national prep poll and won a second straight state title.

He was All-West pick by Prep Star and an academic All-American choice by Prep Star.

The Crusaders were 24–0 in games Gesser started.

Gesser played college football at Washington State University in Pullman.

He is the only player in Cougar history to be elected as captain three consecutive years.

He was inducted into the Washington State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, and was also ranked 9th of the top 12 greatest Washington State University football players of All-Time by the Pac-12 Networks.