Shawn Quinn steps down as head coach at Savannah State

Shawn Quinn has stepped down as the head football coach at Savannah State. 

In a statement released on his Twitter, Quinn said “As our family sets off on a new adventure we look forward to seeing the Tigers do big things in the years to come. It has been an honor and a privilege. This isn’t goodbye, its just see you on down the road. Go Tigers! #FindAWay Galatians 6:9”

Quinn took over as the head coach in 2019, following a stint as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator in 2018. He served as the interim head coach from December of 2018 through March of 2019.

The Tigers thrived under Quinn’s smash mouth style of football, winning 7 games in his first season, and going 5-0 in SIAC play. COVID caused their 2020 season to be canceled, but the Tigers managed to schedule and play two games, going 1-1. 

2021 was a historic year for the program. The Tigers finished 8-2, and were arguably deserving of a playoff spot, but were left out by the committee.

Prior to Quinn taking over as head coach, the Tigers had gone 9-44 in their previous 5 seasons. What Quinn and his staff were able to accomplish is nothing short of remarkable. Perhaps the best way to sum it up is this story from Quinn:

“This was the worst program in America, I can say that unequivocally, when I got here. Last night, there was an interesting thing that happened: As a football coach, my daughter has a birthday a month and a half ago and I still hadn’t got her a present. I got done recruiting just up past Pooler, so I stopped in at the Tanger Outlets. I walk into the Nike outlet and in the front door, I open the door and there’s a Savannah State section. I’ll be honest with you, I started balling. ‘Cause I’m like this would’ve never happened a couple years ago. That to me is success. Seeing the things, people having pride, people stopping me around town, people giving a rip, that’s pretty cool.”

There is plenty of speculation that Quinn has been hired by new Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry, but nothing has been officially released. The two did work together at Georgia Southern in 2010.

The search will be on for Savannah State’s next head coach. Two names that should be strongly considered are already on the staff:

Defensive coordinator Thomas Sims

Offensive coordinator Russell DeMasi