SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State University has selected Erik Raeburn as the new head football coach. Raeburn will be the 25th head football coach in the history of the program.
Raeburn, 44, comes to SSU from Wabash College located in Crawfordsville, Ind.
A proven winner, in his eight years at Wabash, he accumulated a record of 78-13, earned five trips to the Division III playoffs and had 16 student-athletes earn All-America status. His 2015 squad posted a 12-1 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division III playoffs.
Wabash was 10-2 in 2008, Raeburn’s first season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. In 2009, the Little Giants went 9-2 and made another trip to the NCAA playoffs. Wabash missed the playoffs in 2010, despite an 8-2 record, but bounced back the following year where they went 12-1 and made it to the NCAA quarterfinals. That same year, Raeburn was named North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. [lasso align=”right” cart=”y” identifier=”B00Q0D2C3Y” locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″ ref=”amzn-college-flags-and-banners-co-savannah-state-tigers-garden-flag” type=”single” id=”71914″ link_id=”4736″]
The 2013 squad was ranked 17th in the nation in the final D3football.com Top-25 poll.
Raeburn led Wabash to a 10-2 record in 2014, including a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs and finished 13th in the final D3football.com.
Before he became head coach at Wabash, Raeburn spent eight years as head football coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he posted a 51-26 record. Prior to arriving at Coe, he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Mount Union College, where he served as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator.
At Coe, Raeburn coached 65 All-Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IAAC) players, 40 All-Americans, and two Academic All-Americans. He guided Coe to its first IIAC title in school history in 2002, and followed with conference championships in 2004 and 2005. He was the 2002 IIAC Coach of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year. He led the Kohawks to a playoff appearance in 2002, advancing to the second round, and also led Coe to the playoffs in 2005.
Raeburn’s overall record as a head coach is 135-39.
Raeburn earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Mount Union College and is currently pursuing his master’s degree. As an assistant coach under Larry Kehres at Mount Union, he helped the Purple Raiders win six Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and three NCAA Division III National Championships (1996, 1997, 1998).
Erik Raeburn Timeline
Born: June 19, 1971
Playing career: Mount Union, 1989-92
Coaching career: Mount Union 1994-99 (assistant), Coe 2000-07 (head coach), Wabash 2008-15 (head coach), Savannah State 2016 (head coach)
Courtesy: SSU Athletics
SSU should be an SIAC school. The school just does not have the resources to compete in football at the FCS level. That said, I wish this guy the best. If he can get SSU to .500 at any point during his tenure at the school, he should receive MEAC Coach of the Year honors.