After just one year on the job, Steven Wilks has resigned as head football coach at Savannah State to take a position at Illinois State University. Wilks will join the staff of newly hired coach Denver Johnson who took over the Redbirds top slot earlier this month. Johnson had been head coach at Murray State for three years before accepting the position at ISU.
Wilks was appointed as head football coach at Savannah State on April 1, 1999 following the departure of Daryl McNeil, who left to become an assistant coach at South Carolina State. In his one year as head coach, Wilks compiled a 5-6-0 record.
He joined the Tiger football staff three years ago, serving first as assistant head football coach and later as defensive coordinator. Under his leadership, Savannah State's defense led the nation in total defense and rushing defense to become the top-rated Division II defense team in the nation in 1998. The national ranking earned Wilks the title of Division II Defensive Coordinator of the Year by the American Football Coaches Magazine.
Before coming to Savannah State University, Wilks was on the coaching staff at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"We regret losing a coach of Wilks' caliber," Savannah State President Carlton Brown said, "He demonstrated the capabilitiesnecessary to help athletes succeed both on and off the field."
The university will launch a national search to replace Wilks. In the meantime, President Brown named Mike Wallace, the Tiger's offensive coordinator, as interim head football coach, A 1991 graduate ofSavannah State, Wallace's coaching career began with the Tigers in 1990 when he worked as a student assistant, then as a full-time assistant coach. The Clyo, Georgia, native was named defensive coordinator in 1995 and offensive coordinator in 1997.
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