Savannah State University Athletics

Tony Pierce enters his second season as the linebackers coach and his first as special teams coordinator at Savannah State University.

Pierce comes to SSU with 30 years of coaching experience, including eight years in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and 14 years in the Football Championship Series (FCS).  He has also served as an NFL intern coach with the Arizona Cardinals (1997).
 
Most recently Coach Pierce served as the defensive coordinator and outside linebacker coach for Warner University in 2013.
 
Prior to working at Warner, Pierce was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach for Gardner-Webb University (N.C.) in 2012.  Prior to that, Coach Pierce served on staff at Valparaiso and Tennessee State going back to 2009.

Coach Pierce made his mark as a defensive coordinator at Alabama State, where he served for six seasons.  In 2008, his final year, the Hornets' defense finished ranked No. 19 nationally, allowing only 301.9 yards per game. In 2004 ASU, claimed the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championship with Pierce being named the American Football Coaches Association’s (AFCA) Assistant Coach of the Year that same season.
 
Other coaching stops include Georgia (2001-02), Wake Forest (2000), West Virginia (1997-99), Pittsburgh (1995-96), Delaware State (1995), Oberlin (1993-94) and Bucknell (1991-92).
 
Pierce got his start on the high school level, working at East Orange High School in New Jersey (1985-90).
Pierce served as the head coach at Oberlin (1993-94) and East Orange High (1986-90).

The postseason is a familiar place for Coach Pierce having coached on staffs for teams in the CarQuest Bowl, Insight.com Bowl and Music City Bowl along with a pair of SWAC championship games with Alabama State.
 
Coach Pierce holds a bachelor's degree in physical education from Gettysburg College (Pa.) where he was a standout defensive back graduating in 1983.  While playing for the Bullets he set a school-record with 16 career interceptions.  After his playing career at Gettysburg, Coach Pierce signed a contract with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL in 1984.  He later went on to graduate with a master's degree in physical education, with a concentration in coaching and sports education from Montclair State in 1989.
 
The Newark, N.J., native and his wife, Michelle, have three children: Christian who is a Captain in the United State Army, Jordan who is a 2^nd Lieutenant in the United States Air force and Alanna a Sophomore at UGA.