New coordinator Shawn Quinn puts SSU on the defensive

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Savannah State University's new defensive coordinator Shawn Quinn doesn't mind a challenge.
 
His last three coaching stops -- Charleston Southern, Western Carolina and Tennessee Tech -- all presented defensive reclamation jobs. Quinn left all those programs in better shape than when he got there.
 
"We got them turned around with effort and technique, more so than scheme," said Quinn.
 
"There's talent here. We wish we had more depth, but we just have to find a way to get better every day. Much like the other jobs, the intrigue of trying to turn around a defense and create a winning program has been fun."
 
Quinn, who will also coach the linebackers, replaces Chad Williams, who took a job as a safeties coach at Central Arkansas State.
 
SSU head coach Erik Raeburn says he chose Quinn ultimately from a group of about 10 candidates.
 
Quinn, who was working at The Citadel as an analyst, inquired about the job after hearing about the opening from SSU wide receivers coach Russell DeMasi, who played at Georgia Southern when Quinn was an assistant under head coach Jeff Monken.
 
"During the interview, it was get on the (blackboard) and show me what you know," said Quinn about his initial meetings with Raeburn. "He's a defensive guy at heart, so it's been good."
 
Quinn played on the defensive line at Carson Newman and has a bachelor's degree in history and political science.
 
Joining SSU allows him to get closer to his daughters, who remained in Statesboro when he left Georgia Southern in 2011.

 

"I loved the coast and I liked where Coach Raeburn was going with the program," Quinn said. "I know coach has been at Mount Union and places that have won. You always want to hitch your wagon to a rising star."
 
And Raeburn is hitching up Quinn's wealth of experience at several different levels. Quinn was a high school coach for five years and a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee for three years before spending five seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette, a year at LSU and Northwestern State, two years at Georgia Southern, one at Charleston Southern, three at Western Carolina and one year at Tennessee Tech.
 
When Quinn started at Charleston Southern in 2012, the Buccaneers were coming off an 0-11 season, giving up 40 points and 442.7 yards a game. Quinn and the staff helped the school improve to 5-6 the next year, giving up 28.6 points and 354.4 yards a game.
Western Carolina saw a similar dramatic improvement with Quinn on the staff. The Catamounts were 1-10, surrendering 40.8 points and 514.4 yards a game.
 
Two years later, they won six games. The third year, seven.
 
"I think I made a great hire," Raeburn said. "The best thing he did, the second he got here, was start building relations with the guys. He got them to buy in to him, then when you want to teach them something on defense, it's no problem.
 
"If you believe in your coach, you'll believe in the defensive system he's calling."
 
Quinn said defensive coaches Brent Pry (Penn State), Bud Foster (Virginia Tech) and John Chavis (Arkansas) have been the biggest influences on him. Quinn worked with Pry at Louisiana-Lafayette and Georgia Southern and Chavis at Tennessee.
 
Quinn brings a multiple defense to the Tigers, sometimes aligning in a three-man front which should give All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference defensive end/outside linebacker Stefen Banks more room to make plays.
 
The defense will be on display in SSU's scrimmage Saturday at 1 p.m. at Theodore A. Wright Stadium. Admission is free for the public.
 
The Tigers open the season Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. at Alabama-Birmingham.
 
"I'd like to see great effort to the ball and play the basics well," Quinn said. "We've only had about a dozen practices so we're really in the infant stages. As the Blue Brothers said, we've got a 1,000 miles to go and two tanks of gas to get there, so we've got some work to do."

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