Shawn Quinn

Title

Head Football Coach
Phone

(912) 358-3470

Shawn Quinn was hired on March 7, 2019 as the 26th head football coach at Savannah State University.

Quinn found success immediately. In his debut season in 2019, the Tigers posted an historic 7-3 overall record—the first winning schedule since 1998. In the program’s first year of competition back in NCAA Division II and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), Quinn led the Tigers to an incredible 5-0 conference record.

The Tiger’s defense was the No. 1 scoring defense in the SIAC during the historic 2019 season. They defeated the top two teams in the SIAC, Albany State and Fort Valley State, by a combined 88-43 points.

He is only the second head coach in the program’s 100 plus year history to post a winning record in an inaugural coaching season. Quinn was named the Black College Sports Network 2019 Coach of the Year. During the school year, in an effort to connect with the Savannah community at large, Quinn and his team performed over 1,500 hours of community service.

Quinn served as the interim head football coach at Savannah State from December 2018-March 2019. He was hired by the Tigers in February of 2018 as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

In the 2018 season, Quinn led a defense that finished the 2018 season ranked first in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in pass defense (138.5 yards per game), and second in total defense (316.2 yards per game). The Tigers finished third in the FCS in pass defense and 19th in total defense.

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 University (2016-17).

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

During his three years as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Western Carolina, he led a resurgence of the Catamount defense. Prior to Western Carolina, he coached one season (2012) at Charleston Southern where his defensive unit led the Big South Conference in pass defense and ranking third in scoring and total defense.

Quinn additionally has previous coordinator experience from a year working as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Northwestern State, and two seasons at Georgia Southern coaching linebackers while also serving as the Eagles' recruiting coordinator. At GSU, he helped the Eagles win the 2011 Southern Conference Championship and achieve two FCS semi-final playoff appearances.

He worked as a defensive line assistant for LSU during the 2008 season and from 2002-07, Quinn coached outside linebackers and the defensive line at Louisiana-Lafayette, helping win the 2005 Sun Belt Championship.

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. Quinn coached in three bowl games while at UT.

Quinn has coached or recruited a number of NFL players, most notably Jason Whitten (Dallas), Tyson Jackson (Atlanta), Darius Eubanks (Tampa Bay), Jeremy Lane (Seattle), Antwoine Williams (Minnesota) and Edwin Jackson (Indianapolis).

A four-year starter along the defensive line at Carson-Newman College, Quinn was an All-South Atlantic Conference (SAC) 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.

Full Name:
Shawn William Quinn
Education:
Carson-Newman College, ‘95
Lincoln Memorial University, ‘98
Playing Experience:
Carson-Newman College, 1990-1995
1994 First Team All-South Atlantic Defensive Lineman
Member of four Conference Championship Teams, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994
Coaching Experience:
Armuchee High School, 1995 | Outside Linebacker Coach and Tight Ends
Maryville High School, 1996-1999 | Defensive Coordinator, Defensive Line Coach
University of Tennessee, 1999-2002 | Offensive Graduate Assistant Coach-Offensive Line/Special Teams
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2002-2008 | Defensive Line Coach
Louisiana State University, 2008-2009 | Defensive Ends Coach
Northwestern State University, 2009 | Co-Defensive Coordinator
Georgia Southern University, 2010-2012 | Linebackers Coach-Recruiting Coordinator
Charleston Southern University, 2012 | Defensive Coordinator-Linebackers Coach
Western Carolina University, 2013-2016 | Defensive Coordinator-Linebackers Coach
Tennessee Tech University, 2016-2017 | Assistant Head Coach-Defensive Coordinator
Citadel, 2017 | Defensive Analyst
Savannah State, 2018-2019 | Defensive Coordinator-Linebackers Coach
Savannah State, 2019-Present | Head Football Coach-Defensive Coordinator
Honors:
2019 Black College Sports Network Coach of the Year
Favorite Athlete:
Michael Jordan
Favorite Food:
Chicago style deep dish pizza
Favorite Leader:
Pete Carroll