Davenport said the SSU job appealed to him because of the MEAC
SSU hires Davenport as new football coach
Excerpt:
Davenport was chosen from more than 200 applicants, SSU athletics director Marilynn Suggs said. He will be paid $125,000 annually - more than Wells ($90,000), Theo Lemon ($65,000), Richard Basil ($61,164) and Ken Pettiford ($61,000), the Tigers' coaches since moving up to the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) in 2002.
Suggs said a search committee, chaired by prominent booster Henry Nash, submitted a list of three finalists: Davenport, Jackson (Miss.) State University offensive coordinator Earnest Wilson and The Citadel running backs coach Everette Sands. They interviewed at SSU on Tuesday.
"And after meeting with them, the choice was clear," Suggs said. "After making my recommendation to the university president (Earl Yarbrough), who concurred, I contacted and offered this man."
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SSU OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State University has hired Steve Davenport as the Tigers’ new head football coach, Athletics Director Marilynn Stacey-Suggs announced today.
Davenport’s appointment is effective immediately. He replaces Julius Dixon, who served as the interim coach for the 2010 season.
The Decatur, Ga., native comes to SSU from the University of Alabama-Birmingham where he served as the Blazers running back coach since December 2006.
While at UAB he also served as the Director of Community Relations, where he organized and facilitated all community service programs.
Davenport, 43, spent two years (2005-06) as the offensive coordinator at Rockdale County High School in Conyers, Ga. At Rockdale County, he joined a staff that previously went 1-9 in 2004 and finished runner-up in Region 8-AAAA, and advanced into the second round of the state playoffs.
He was the head coach at Decatur High School for two seasons (2003-04) and in 2003 was named the Georgia Class AA State Coach-of-the-Year as his team finished 13-1, losing in the state semifinals.
Videographer: KEN SLATS, WSAV 3
Davenport also spent four seasons (1997-2001) as the head coach at Redan High School in Lithonia, Ga., and served as the offensive coordinator at Southwest DeKalb High School in Atlanta from 1994-96, when the school won the 1995 Georgia State AAAAA state championship. He also worked as a defensive backs coach at Southwest DeKalb (1990-91) and helped the team reach the 1990 AAAA State Championship game.
Davenport was a graduate assistant coach at Georgia Tech during the1992 and 1993 seasons. Under head coach Bill Lewis, he assisted in coaching the wide receivers; served as assistant recruiting coordinator; aided in coordinating recruiting weekends, breaking down film and assisting in game plan preparations; and was responsible for the defensive scout team during practices.
Davenport was a four-year letterwinner as a player at Georgia Tech from 1985-88. He was a member of the Yellow Jacket team that defeated Michigan State in the 1985 All-American Bowl played at Legion Field.
A three-year starter at wide receiver, Davenport earned his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech in 1990 and his master’s degree from Tech in 1994.
He is married to the former Stephanie Gilstrap.
From: SSU Press Release 1/7/2011
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