FIU rallying around quarterback Joe Pesansky, a once under-the-radar recruit

Joe Pesansky – FIU’s newest quarterback sensation – admits he took a “weird path” to football.

A native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Pesansky fell in love with football as a kid by watching Philadelphia Eagles games with his father, Joseph.

Even so, Pesansky didn’t even dream of playing high school football … much less college or pro.

“I was a small, skinny kid,” Pesansky said. “I didn’t really grow until I was in high school. I always thought I’d be a broadcaster.”

The Pesansky family has moved around a lot due to Joseph’s job as an executive for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The family was living in Virginia when Joe Pesansky was set to enter high school at all of 5-9 and 157 pounds.

Feeling he wasn’t big enough for football, Pesansky’s plan was to run cross-country instead.

“But our freshman football coach and my buddies convinced me to play football,” Pesansky said.

Smart move.

Pesansky grew throughout high school. He was 6-foot to start his sophomore year and 6-3 as a junior.

“We were having to buy him new shoes every month,” Joseph Pesansky said.

After Joe’s junior year of high school, his father’s job was relocated to Tampa. Joe’s mother, Jennifer, sent emails to all the area football coaches, and the only one who responded was Matt Thompson at Tampa Jesuit.

Thompson saw Joe’s video highlights and liked him immediately, inviting the kid to watch a Tampa Jesuit practice.

“They had other quarterbacks,” Joseph said. “But Joe thought he could compete. He bet on himself.”

It was a fantastic wager as Pesansky beat out his rival QBs and led Tampa Jesuit to a 14-1 record, setting the school record with 35 touchdown passes. Pesansky completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 2,930 yards. He was intercepted just five times, and four of them came in a win over Berkeley Prep.

“Two of those picks happened because the receiver ran the wrong way,” Thompson said.

That season ended in the state semifinals with a 16-13 loss to Plantation American Heritage.

After that season, however, Pesansky did not have FBS scholarship offers. It was the COVID year of 2020, and a lot of college programs were full at the QB position because extra years of eligibility were being granted by the NCAA.

Thompson said he pushed hard for Pesansky, including at Indiana, which at the time was coached by Tom Allen.

“I told Tom, ‘If you have one scholarship left, give it to this kid, and he will beat your other guys out,” Thompson said. “But Joe didn’t get the offer.”

This year, Tampa Jesuit is led by quarterback Will Griffin, a four-star recruit who has committed to Florida. Even so, Thompson said Pesansky ranks with Griffin as the greatest QB he has coached in three decades of football.

“It’s not just Joe’s talent,” Thompson said. “Joe is a leader. Everyone likes him. They call him Joe P.”

But despite Thompson’s lobbying efforts, Pesansky ended up at an FCS school, Holy Cross, where he mostly sat the bench the first three years.

Last year, Pesansky finally got his shot, and he led the Crusaders to a 6-6 record and a share of the Patriot League title. And although the automatic playoff berth went to Lehigh, Pesansky had a strong season, completing 60.2 percent of his passes for 2,399 yards, 19 TDs and six interceptions.

Even so, when he transferred to FIU for the 2025 season, the news didn’t make so much as a ripple amongst anyone outside of the Panthers coaching staff.

After all, the Panthers had – and still have – Keyone Jenkins, a third-year starter and the 2025 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year.

As it turns out, FIU coach Willie Simmons knew what he was doing when he signed Pesansky, who is 2-0 as a starter this season. With Jenkins out due to a groin injury, Pesansky has stepped in and led the Panthers to within one win of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2019.

Indeed, it would be shocking if Pesansky didn’t get the start on Saturday when FIU (5-5, 3-3) plays its home finale against Conference USA leader Jacksonville State (7-3, 6-0).

For Pesansky, even though his strongest rooting interest has long been the Eagles, his biggest individual influence has been Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

“it was his big (2019) year at LSU,” Pesansky said of Burrow’s championship season that also included the Heisman Trophy. “He was the one who inspired me to become a Division I quarterback and to take this to the next level.”

Pesansky has done just fine at that “next level.”

In fact, in his two starts for FIU, Pesansky is completing 61.1 percent of his passes for an average of 231.5 yards per game with six total touchdowns and two interceptions.

That figure of 231.5 – extrapolated over a full season -- would rank Pesansky fourth in the league, well above Jenkins’ 155.8 average.

Yet, Pesansky doesn’t brag or boast. On the contrary, he credits everyone from his current coaches to his former coaches and from his FIU teammates to those at Holy Cross and beyond.

Simmons, meanwhile, credits Pesansky’s poise under pressure for setting him apart.

Take the overtime period in this past Saturday’s 34-27 win over Liberty. On the first play of the OT, FIU’s center, Julius Pierce, hiked the ball over Pesansky’s head.

Did Pesansky panic?

Child please.

“We had called a run-pass option play,” Pesansky said. “When the ball went over my head, I was concerned about throwing it away just because it took a little too long, and we might have had a lineman downfield (thus a penalty if he were to throw the ball).

“I was able to pick up the ball clean. Instinct kicks in there. You have a bad thing happen. Don’t make a bad play worse. So I got back to the line of scrimmage and lived to fight on the next down.”

Indeed, five plays later, FIU had scored the game winner on Pesansky’s seven-yard TD pass to Maguire Anderson.

Pesansky said FIU offensive coordinator Nick Coleman had prepared him for that play earlier in the week.

“Coach Coleman told me several days before that game that if we call that play and see ‘cover zero’ I’m to throw the ball to our receiver in the middle of the field.

“That’s exactly what happened, and it’s awesome how prepared our coaches are.”

Pesansky, now listed at 6-4 and 220 pounds, is not a particularly fast or powerful runner.

Yet, he scrambled for 40 yards against Liberty, and he – again – credits his coaches, especially FIU director of strength and conditioning, Matt Hickman.

“My speed has really increased since I got down here,” Pesansky said. We have a ton of fast guys on this team. in the summer, I was pushing to run with all the fastest guys.

“I knew I wasn’t going to win. But I also knew they were going to make me faster.”

Also against Liberty, Pesansky barreled over a defender.

“That was the first time I’ve ever run somebody over in my life,” Pesansky said. “I’m in a bit of shock, but it was a good feeling.”

That “good feeling” describes the entire FIU team right now, thanks in large part to Joe P.

“We haven’t been to a bowl game in a while,” Pesansky said. “We’re not there yet, but it’s very feasible. We’re going to do our best to make it happen.”