Chad Cannon
Interim Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach
Chad Cannon begins his first season as interim head track & field/cross country coach at Savannah State University, taking over the program following the retirement of longtime head coach Ted Whitaker, who led the Tigers for 38 years.
Known to many of his athletes as “Coach BOOM,” Cannon brings more than 30 years of coaching experience and a proven record of success at the high school, NAIA and NCAA levels.
Throughout his career, Cannon has established himself as a program builder with experience developing conference champions, national qualifiers and record holders across multiple event groups. His background includes extensive work in recruiting, student-athlete development and building championship-level team cultures.
Cannon also brings a wealth of experience outside of collegiate athletics. A master-level fitness and performance coach, he owned and operated a successful fitness, wellness and performance training business for more than 20 years. He is also a motivational speaker, success and life coach, and best-selling author of two books.
A former collegiate and professional athlete, Cannon competed in track & field at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio during the early 1990s. Following his collegiate career, he competed professionally in the long jump and 400-meter dash.
While training and competing professionally, Cannon began his coaching career as an assistant cross country and track & field coach at the University of Rio Grande. During his two seasons with the program, he helped the RedStorm achieve top-10 national rankings.
Cannon went on to spend more than 25 years coaching at the high school level, with stops at Thomas Worthington High School in Ohio, Hilton Head High School, Bluffton High School and May River High School in South Carolina.
During his high school coaching career, Cannon helped lead programs to four state championships, along with numerous state runner-up finishes and top-five team finishes in both cross country and track & field.
His coaching experience extends beyond the track. Cannon spent more than 10 years coaching girls basketball and helped guide May River High School to the state semifinals in 2020.
Cannon's tenure as interim head coach marks another chapter in a relationship with Savannah State that dates back more than two decades.
He first joined the Savannah State track & field program as an assistant coach in 1999, spending one season with the Tigers before accepting a coaching position at Hilton Head High School and establishing his fitness training business in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Cannon returned to Savannah State as an assistant coach in 2024. Since returning to SSU, he has worked closely with the Tigers' jumpers, helping student-athletes achieve national qualifying marks and establish new school records.
Now leading the Savannah State track & field and cross country programs, Cannon has established three primary goals for his student-athletes and teams: help each student-athlete become the best man or woman they can possibly be while placing no limits on their success; compete for and win conference championships; and ultimately compete for and win national championships.
For Cannon, those objectives reflect a larger commitment to developing successful student-athletes on the track, in the classroom and in life.
