BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech head football coach Brent Pry announced Sunday that former Savannah State head coach Shawn Quinn has joined his coaching staff.
Pry and Quinn previously collaborated at Georgia Southern in 2010 when Pry served as defensive coordinator and Quinn worked as the linebackers coach. The duo also worked together at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2002-06.
Quinn has spent the past three years as the head coach of Savannah State where he led the Tigers to a 16-6 record after transitioning from the FCS level to NCAA Division II. Quinn’s squad went 8-2 in 2021, the program’s most victories in 26 years as the Tigers finished eighth in NCAA Division II in total defense (249.8 yards per game). Due to COVID-19, Savannah State did not play a fall season in 2020. The Tigers went 1-1 during a two-game 2021 spring schedule in 2021.
In 2019, Quinn piloted the program to a 7-3 record, the team’s first winning record since 1998. He also became just the second head coach in the program’s 100-year history to record a winning season in his first year at the helm. He guided Savannah State to a 5-0 record in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference en route to the SIAC East Division title and was named the 2019 Black College Sports Network Coach of the Year after the Tigers finished the season ranked No. 8 in the Boxtorow HBCU Top 10 Poll. The Tigers posted the conference’s top scoring defense in 2019 at 21.1 points per game.
Under Quinn’s leadership, the Tigers boasted 15 all-conference players in two full seasons of competition, including 2019 conference freshman of the year RB Einaj Carter. Prior to being named the 26th head coach in Savannah State history, Quinn served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Tigers during the 2018 season. His defense finished the year third in the Football Championship Subdivision in pass defense (138.5 yards per game).
Quinn worked as a defensive analyst at The Citadel during the 2017 season where he assisted with defensive game-planning and opponent preparation. He also ran analysis on opponent tendencies during his time with the Bulldogs. He worked as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech in 2016. Under Quinn, the Golden Eagles improved their scoring defense by 7.2 points per game from the 2015 season, including an 11.0-points-per-game improvement in conference play.
Before arriving at Tennessee Tech, Quinn spent three years as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Western Carolina (2013-15). He held the same roles at Charleston Southern in 2012. He served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at Georgia Southern from 2010-11, where he worked under Pry during his first season. Prior to that stop, Quinn worked as the co-defensive coordinator at Northwestern State in 2009.
Quinn served as the defensive ends coach at LSU during the 2008 season where he helped DE Tyson Jackson earn second-team All-SEC honors. Jackson was the third overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by Kansas City. Prior to his time in Baton Rouge, Quinn served as the defensive line coach at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2002-08, working under Pry from 2002-06.
Quinn’s collegiate coaching career began in 1999 as a graduate assistant at Tennessee where he worked with the offensive line and special teams. Quinn was part of the staff that led the Volunteers to the 2001 SEC East Division title and three bowl appearances.
A four-year starter on the defensive line at Carson-Newman, he helped lead the Eagles to four straight conference championships. Quinn graduated in 1995 with a degree in history and political science. He then earned his masters degree in 1998 from Lincoln Memorial.
QUINN’S COACHING CAREER
2022 Virginia Tech Assistant Coach; 2019-21 Savannah State Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator; 2018 Savannah State Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers; 2017 The Citadel Defensive Analyst; 2016 Tennessee Tech Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator; 2013-15 Western Carolina Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers; 2012 Charleston Southern Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers; 2010-11 Georgia Southern Linebackers/Recruiting Coordinator; 2009 Northwestern State Co-Defensive Coordinator; 2008 LSU Defensive Ends; 2002-07 Louisiana-Lafayette Defensive Line; 1999-01 Tennessee Graduate Assistant-Offensive Line/Special Teams; 1996-99 Maryville High School Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line; 1995 Armuchee High School Outside Linebackers/Tight Ends.
BOWL GAMES COACHED
2008 Chick-Fil-A Bowl LSU; 2002 Citrus Bowl Tennessee; 2001 Cotton Bowl Tennessee; 2000 Fiesta Bowl Tennessee.
PROMINENT NFL PUPILS
LB Antwione Williams D5-2016 – Detroit; LB Edwin Jackson FA-2015 – Arizona; LB Darius Eubanks FA-2013 – Minnesota; CB Jeremy Lane D6-2012 – Seattle; DE Tyson Jackson D1-2009 – Kansas City; TE Jason Witten D3-2003 – Dallas.
