Savannah State selects former Howard University coach to replace Shawn Quinn as head coach

Savannah State has hired Aaron Kelton as its 27th head football coach, director of athletics Opio Mashariki has announced, calling the choice "very tough" with final candidates including two Savannah natives.

Kelton arrived on campus on Tuesday morning to meet with the team and administration, then he and Mashariki held a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

'Keep moving forward':Russell DeMasi on not getting the Savannah State football job

“We are very excited to welcome Aaron Kelton to Savannah State," Mashariki said in a press release. “Following our national search, we had a very tough choice to make. We feel confident Aaron Kelton is the right leader for our football program as we continue to create a winning culture.

“We would like to thank Russell DeMasi for stepping in to serve the program in the interim.”

Day 1:Savannah State starts spring football practice under watch of interim coach DeMasi

Kelton was one of four finalists for the position following a national search that yielded 63 applicants.

Kelton comes to Savannah State from Howard University, where he was the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator. He also served as interim head coach at Howard in 2019.

The other finalists were Savannah native and interim head coach DeMasi, Savannah native and former Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern assistant coach Lamar Owens Jr.; and former Bethune-Cookman associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Allen Suber.

DeMasi, on the staff since 2015, last season was assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. The Savannah native, who played quarterback at Savannah Christian and Georgia Southern, openly campaigned for the job and viewed every day as an audition.

"I think I've proven that I want to be here," DeMasi said after the first practice of the spring on Monday, when DeMasi and offensive assistant Nick Trist were the only coaches remaining from the 2021 staff and ran the session with help with volunteers.

"I want to let them know, I've expressed that to the administration, to the people on campus, that this is the place I want to be, this is my home. I love these guys. I've recruited these guys. I've got a recruiting class of 36 guys coming in. I've built a relationship with them. I want to be their head coach. 

"This is something I've been working toward. So yeah, every day, I don't take it lightly. I don't take it for granted. I want to get the best and make these players, day in and day out, get better every day. If I'm doing that, I think they'll make the right decision and make me the head coach."

DeMasi was given the interim tag on Dec. 7 when head coach Shawn Quinn resigned following an 8-2 season (5-1 in the SIAC) to become a defensive assistant coach at Virginia Tech of the Power 5 Atlantic Coast Conference. Quinn was a combined 16-6 since 2019, 10-1 in the NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Commentary:Football coaching staff shrinks, Russell DeMasi stays put as Savannah State situation unresolved

Current and former SSU players as well as others on social media have shown support for making DeMasi the permanent hire. Mashariki said he was aware of that support.

"I considered everything," he said during the press conference Tuesday. "I took into consideration his popularity. I took into consideration what was in the best interest of the football program, of the athletic department. With all of those things said, after a long time and a lot of thought and a lot of consideration, we felt like coach Kelton was the best fit. From an experience standpoint, from a fit standpoint, coach Kelton stood out."

The coaching search

Mashariki explained that a search committee got started in mid-January and advertised, then received and vetted applications.

"We didn't have a time frame. We wanted to get it done as quickly as possible, but we wanted it to be as thorough as possible as well," he said during the press conference.

The field was narrowed to four finalists, who were interviewed on campus. Mashariki said he didn't want to rush the process so the best candidate would emerge. The announcement was made when "everything was finalized." The timing happened to be two days into spring football practice.

"As soon as things were finalized was when we wanted to get it out," Mashariki said. "I didn't want to have a head football coach that we offered or we knew we would have offered and go through spring practice. I think that would be unfair to coach DeMasi, who was interim at the time, as well as the student-athletes.

"Once we knew, after going through the vetting process, who we wanted, I felt like it was time to us to then let it be known — let the student-athletes know, let the coaching staff who's here now know as well as start to move forward with spring practice.

"It wasn't ideal timing, but from the standpoint we want to make sure we're transparent, that everyone knows what we know, then that's the direction we wanted to go in. Once everyone knows, then people can make the decisions they want to make in regard to how they want to move forward, and that allows us to be able to move forward."

Kelton said he will return to Savannah on Sunday, then resume spring practice Tuesday. The previous schedule of two-hour sessions at 8 a.m., Monday through Friday culminating in an intrasquad spring game on April 22, has been adjusted as part of the transition, Kelton said.

"I was ready for this plan once we got into the later stages of the process," Kelton said during the press conference. "The men are going to lift this week and we'll resume everything next week. We probably won't have a full-fledged spring game at the end, but we will have some kind of a controlled scrimmage so we can keep guys healthy and go about it that way. We're ready to get after it."

Kelton is thrilled about his new position.

“I’ve been excited since I found out," he said in the press release. "It’s such a great opportunity to work with great kids in a great region of football and to be at a school like Savannah State that is so rich in tradition. I am looking forward to getting to know the kids and getting after it.

“I would like to thank Mr. Mashariki and President (Kimberly) Ballard-Washington for seeing that I am the guy who can do this job.”

Kelton's coaching history

Prior to coaching at Howard, the Boston, Massachusetts, native was the co-defensive coordinator at Morgan State, and the head football coach at Shorter University. He also served stints at Williams College, Columbia University, Virginia State University, Concord College, Clarion University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He was a perfect 8-0 in his first year at Williams College before win totals descended each season and he finished 23-25 from 2010-15.

The search:Here are the four finalists to become Savannah State's next football coach

He was brought in to turn around Shorter College, which had moved up from NAIA to NCAA DII. Also the acting athletic director, Kelton had back-to-back 0-11 marks, getting shut out seven times including the last five games of 2016. The Rome, Georgia, squad was blanked three times in a winless 2017 and he was fired.

Through his nearly three-decades of coaching experience, Kelton has served as an intern with four NFL teams and coached over 30 all-conference players. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Springfield College and is a master’s degree candidate at Virginia State University.

Kelton said he wasn't on the other side of the search in terms of the vetting process, so he can't answer why ultimately he was the best choice.

"I know I'm ready for this opportunity, for this challenge," he said at the press conference. "I know that my experiences on different levels, at different types of institutions, my experience recruiting the state and the region, all are factors I believe are helpful."

Kelton did confirm he offered DeMasi a position on the coaching staff.

"He has the opportunity to think about it and make whatever decisions he's made," Kelton said. "He and I did have a chance to talk some today after I met with the team. We'll play that as best we can in terms of what he wants to do and how we're going to do that."

He has had a few informal conversations with prospective assistant coaches, and pledges to hire some who know the region and have recruited the area.

"Since the announcement, my phone's been blowing up from different recruiters across Atlanta and Savannah and Columbus, everywhere, and parts of Florida," Kelton said at the press conference.

"That just makes the process so much more exciting for me to know that everyone's all in with this move for me coming to Savannah. We're ready. It was great meeting the team. They bought in. We had a really good time just talking individually with guys. We're going to keep this rolling and win the way we've been winning the last few years."

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz