Coaching Career
In his eighth year as a part of the Bulldog coaching staff, Settle has coached five of the 12 Bulldogs who have rushed for more than 1,000 yards in school history ... has been a valuable member of the offensive staff by developing running backs ... has coached four different Bulldog backs to more than 1,000 yards in each of the last four seasons ... Bryson Sumlin earned second-team All-WAC honors in 2004, rushing for 1,010 yards ... the Bulldog tandem of Sumlin and Wendell Mathis combined for 1,879 yards and 25 touchdowns ... Mathis just missed out on a 1,000-yard season by rushing for 995 ... Fresno State was one of two schools in the NCAA with two backs ranked in the NCAA top 50 in rushing yardage and each averaged more than 6 yards per carry ... Mathis and Sumlin ranked first and third in the WAC respectively in average yards per carry ... In 2003, Dwayne Wright became the third different running back in the past three years to surpass the 1,000-yard plateau with 1,038 ... under Settle, the Bulldogs ranked 15th in the nation in rushing in 2004 and set a school rushing record with 503 yards vs. Hawaii ... in 2002, Rodney Davis set school records with 1,586 yards, ranking second in the WAC and 18th in the nation ... in addition, he developed 1999 leading rusher Derrick Ward, a second-team Freshman All-American and member of the New York Giants, and Paris Gaines, who ran for 1,044 in 2001, becoming the 11th running back in FS history to eclipse the 1,000-yard barrier ... under Settle, Gaines and Davis earned second-team All-WAC honors ... he also coached 1998 WAC Pacific Division Offensive Player of the Year and 1,000-yard rusher Jamie Kimbrough ... Davis became just the second back in school history with two 200-yard games in a season ... also responsible for gameday sideline organization and weekly breakdowns of upcoming opponents ... joined Pat Hill's assistant group in February 1998 ... served the previous three seasons (1995-98) as assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens franchise, working under head coaches Bill Belicheck and Ted Marchibroda ... as an offensive assistant, he was able to study under what are considered to be some of the best minds in football, such as Steve Crosby, Kirk Ferentz, Mike Sheppard, Don Strock and Al Lavan ... in his time with the NFL under these coaches, he honed his ability to evaluate players, coordinate game plans and break down opponents ... has coached such players as Lorenzo White, Leroy Hoard, Earnest Byner and Priest Holmes ... also was influenced by 1998 NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year Scott O'Brien ... Settle began his coaching career at his alma mater Appalachian State, where he assisted the running backs coach at Appalachian State during the 1994 season.
Athletics Career
A four-year letterman (1983-86) at running back at Appalachian State, where he played one season under Mack Brown, currently the head coach at the University of Texas ... played three years at Appalachian State for Sparky Woods, currently the running backs coach at Alabama ... finished his career as the school's leading rusher, with 4,409 yards ... scored 43 touchdowns in four seasons for the Mountaineers ... at the time of his departure, was the third-ranked rusher in NCAA I-AA football history ... was named the Southern Conference Player of the year as a senior after rushing for 1,661 yards and scoring 20 touchdowns ... was a two-time All-America selection, as both a junior and senior ... scored a conference-record five touchdowns in one game, versus Davidson as a senior ... led the Mountaineers to one Southern Conference title ... signed as a free agent after his senior season with the Atlanta Falcons and played under Jerry Glanville and Marion Campbell ... had back-to-back seasons where he combined for over 1,000 yards of offense ... played a total of six years in the National Football League, with the Atlanta Falcons (1987-90) and Washington Redskins (1991-92) ... posted consecutive 1,000 combined yard seasons with the Falcons ... in 1988, gained a career-high 1,594 total yards (1,024 rushing, 570 receiving), and was named to the Pro Bowl ... was also named to the All-Madden Team after the 1988 season ... had three 100-yard rushing games, and three 100-yard receiving games ... totaled nine games with 100 or more total yards ... in 1989, gained 1,005 total yards (689 rushing, 316 receiving) ... played on the 1991 Washington Redskins Super Bowl Championship team.
Personal
Born June 2, 1965 ... he and his wife, Karen, have three children: Jonathan, Leighton, and Devynn ... was the first free agent in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season (1988 with the Atlanta Falcons) ... graduated from Appalachian State in 1989 with a degree in criminal justice ... had his number 23 retired by ASU as he left school ... was inducted into Appalachian State's Hall of Fame in 1994.
