Savannah State Names Richard Basil Interim Head Football Coach
September 29, 2003
Savannah State University has named Richard Basil as interim head football
coach effective immediately. Basil was introduced at a press conference Monday
afternoon.
He replaces Ken Pettiford who was five games in his second
season as head coach. Pettiford had a 1-13 record at Savannah
State.
A Savannah State alum, Basil has worked for four
different Tiger head coaches. He began his career in 1993
as quarterbacks
and receivers coach under Joe Crosby. The following year he
went to Tennessee State where he was quarterbacks coach under
Bill Davis.
Two years later he accepted an assistant coaching position
at Johnson C. Smith University under Daryl McNeill. In 1997,
Basil returned to SSU, following McNeill’s appointment
as head coach.
After McNeill left to join the staff at South Carolina State,
Basil remained at his alma mater coaching quarterbacks and
kickers for Steve Wilks in 1999 and for Bill Davis from 2000-2001.
In 2002 and into this season, Basil coached defensive backs
for Pettiford in addition to conducting activities for the
SSU Intramural Program.
Basil was an outstanding quarterback in the glory years of
Tiger football. The Demopolis, Alabama native transferred to
Savannah State from East Central Community College and quarterbacked
the Tigers to an 8-2 season in 1988 and an 8-1 season in 1989.
In his two seasons as a Tiger player, he rushed for 18 touchdowns
and passed for 3,645 yards and 44 TDs. He was named SIAC Offensive
Players of the Year and the George H. Hopson Offensive Back
of the Year in 1988. In 1989, he led NCAA Division II in passing
percentage, completing 57 percent of his tosses.
Basil is married to the former Mary Daise of St. Helena, SC.
He takes over a program whose only victory in the past two
years was over a team that has since dropped football.
