Savannah State football coach Shawn Quinn steps down after two winning seasons

Shawn Quinn has resigned as head football coach at Savannah State, he announced on Wednesday morning.

Quinn first announced his resignation on Twitter, then met with local media on Zoom. He said he had informed the administration and met with the team before going public.

"I made a decision it's a good time to move on," he told local media. "I appreciate everything Savannah State's done. There's a lot of good things coming facility-wise here, a lot of things coming with the support standpoint. A lot of things coming down the pike that are good. There are a lot of things that still need to be done from salaries for the assistant coaches, providing the players with the best things possible. But Savannah State is on the right path. We've worked super hard these last two, three years to really try to turn this thing around and make it a viable option for kids in the area. Won some football games, had a lot of fun.

"I met with the team this morning and let them know I was moving on, thanked them, and that's the hardest part of this thing. Met with the coaches, who are on the road recruiting right now. So obviously this puts those guys in a tough position because there are no guarantees. I also let (director of athletics) Opio (Mashariki) and our president (Kimberly Ballard-Washington) know what I was doing. This is something I came to a decision late last night and this morning, and wanted to make sure they knew I was going in another direction and just wanted to thank them ..."

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SSU announced Wednesday that Quinn's resignation is effective Dec. 7, and that the administration will make an assessment of the program.

“On behalf of Savannah State University, I would like to thank Coach Quinn for his three years of service as our head coach,” Ballard-Washington said in a statement. “He wholeheartedly devoted himself to the success of the football program for which we are grateful."

Mashariki also thanked Quinn after one of the most successful, albeit brief, football coaching tenures at SSU.

"He turned the page for Savannah State football and put us on track to be a competitive program within our new conference and division," Mashariki said in a statement. "As the search for a new coach begins, we will be looking for a person who can continue to build on the foundation that has been laid.”

Virginia Tech next for Quinn?

Quinn worked in 2010 as an assistant at Georgia Southern with Brent Pry, who on Tuesday was hired as head coach at Virginia Tech after serving as Penn State's co- or defensive coordinator since 2014. Quinn could figure into Pry's plans as he builds a coaching staff, but Quinn declined to talk about other schools.

"Obviously, I'm super excited for Brent," Quinn said. "He's a great friend, like a brother to me. I get emotional talking about it because I'm really proud of him and what he's done and what he's meant to me and my family and my life. We'll see what happens. I'll leave it at that. Time for a new adventure. I'll leave it at that."

He said there's never an ideal time to leave, but it's better that those in the program know as soon as possible.

"With signing day coming up and just to be fair to recruits and our coaches, a number of them have been approached with jobs and things, you don't want to shortchange those guys," Quinn said, noting the early signing period Dec. 15-17. "Also our players, they needed to know kind of where the direction was going in the offseason. Like I said, there's never a good time, but I felt like if this is going to happen, let's do this now."

Quinn took the opportunity to thank his SSU staff, players and others, as he had done earlier Wednesday morning on Twitter.

"As our family sets off on a new adventure we look forward to seeing the Tigers do big things in the years to come," Quinn posted on his Twitter account. "It has been an honor and a privilege. This isn't goodbye, it's just see you on down the road. Go Tigers! #FindAWay, Galatians 6:9. Shawn Quinn."

In the tweet, he thanked Tiger Nation for the opportunity to coach the team.

"I want to thank our players, our staff, our families for the hard work and the great memories we made," the tweet read. "To our fans, university, alumni, Savannah, the #912 thank you for embracing us and being part of what has made the job so special."

The tweet noted the team's 16 wins from 2019-21, combined 10-1 conference record for 2019 and 2021, and undefeated home record at T.A. Wright Stadium in 2021.

"Most importantly, we were able to graduate our seniors and be part of a special time in our players' lives," the tweet read. "For that I am forever grateful, to all those involved thank you."

Quinn has had two highly successful full seasons as head coach after one year as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2018.

SSU went 8-2 this season and 5-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference — the second-best mark in the league but not enough to win the East Division and advance to the championship game. The Tigers also were disappointed to have been left out of the NCAA Division II playoffs from their subregion, ranking eighth while the top seven teams had postseason berths.

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"Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, (but) I'm not on the committee," Quinn had said on Nov. 14 after Lenoir-Rhyne jumped over SSU in the final rankings. "The biggest thing is I think we had a good-enough resume at 8-2. We were an 8-2 team ahead of Lenoir-Rhyne and then they picked the 8-2 Lenoir-Rhyne team over us that was behind us in the rankings.

"I'm grateful for the year we had. I'm disappointed we didn't get in. I think we should have been in. I'm sure there are a bunch of other coaches that feel the same way I do."

A winning run

Quinn was hired on March 7, 2019 as SSU's 26th head football coach, and his first as head coach.

In his debut season in 2019, the Tigers went 7-3 — their first winning record since 1998. In the program’s first year of competition back in the SIAC, Quinn led the Tigers to a 5-0 mark but the team was not allowed to compete in the league championship game because the athletic program was still transitioning to NCAA Division II and ineligible for the playoffs.

The SIAC canceled the 2020 fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers played two games in the spring of 2021, going 1-1.

"The most challenging job of my entire life, without a doubt, but also probably the most rewarding in the sense of just seeing the change," Quinn said Wednesday morning.

He praised the players, saying head coaches get too much credit, for the program's rise from 2-8 his first year as an assistant coach at SSU to 8-2 this year. He's leaving a program better than when he arrived, Quinn said.

"Here's the deal: I left it all out there. There's no gas in the tank," Quinn said. "I'm not regretful at all other than I'd like to have won a game or two more. As far as the work we put in, I feel real good about it."

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Quinn came to Savannah State from The Citadel, where he served as a defensive analyst for the 2017 season. Before that, he was the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Tennessee Tech (2016-17).

A native of Chicago, Quinn has also coached at Western Carolina (2013-16), Charleston Southern (2012), Georgia Southern (2010-11), Northwestern State (2009), LSU (2008), University of Louisiana (2002-07) and the University of Tennessee (1999-2002).

Quinn began his coaching career at the high school level, coaching outside linebackers and tight ends for a year (1995) at Armuchee (Ga.) High before spending five years (1996-99) coaching at Maryville (Tenn.) High, where he helped lead the team to the 1998 Tennessee Class 4-A state championship. He then landed on the staff at Tennessee as an offensive graduate assistant, taking part in the Vols' 2001 SEC East championship.

A four-year starter on the defensive line at Carson-Newman in Tennessee, Quinn was an All-South Atlantic Conference selection, helping the Eagles claim four conference championships. He graduated with a degree in history and political science in 1995 before earning a master's degree from Lincoln Memorial University.

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Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah State football coach Shawn Quinn steps down