The South Georgia State College Hawks added three new coaches to begin the 2017-2018 athletic season, welcoming Jacob Crawford for women’s soccer, Erik Thumann for cross country, and Jeff Savage for softball.
Jacob Crawford is an alumnus of South Georgia College where he played soccer from 2006-2007. After SGC, he transferred to Valdosta State University and graduated in 2010. He holds a B.S in middle grades education from Valdosta State and a M.S. in kinesiology from Georgia Southern University. For the past seven years, Coach Crawford has been teaching at Valdosta High School and coaching within their soccer program. During his time as the boys head coach at Valdosta High, he was able to take the team back to the state playoffs for the first time in 11 years. Coach Crawford also works with United Futbol Academy where he is the South Program Director. He has successfully won promotion in the Georgia State Youth League on three different occasions, winning his league twice. He also serves on the Georgia ODP Coaching Staff, taking two state teams to the Region III ODP Trials. He holds a USSF ‘C’ Coaching License and a United Soccer Coaches Goalkeeping Level 1 License. He lives in Valdosta with his wife and son, Leslie and Finley.
Coach Crawford says, “I’m thankful for the opportunity to begin my collegiate coaching career at South Georgia State. I hope to create a highly competitive soccer program that gains regional respect to attract more students and players to SGSC.”
Erik Thumann graduated from the University of North Georgia with a master’s of science in physical education and from the University of Tampa with a bachelor of science in athletic training. In addition to coaching cross country at SGSC, he serves as the athletic trainer for baseball, softball, soccer, swimming, basketball, and cross country. Thumann is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and is certified in CPR and as a lifeguard.
Thumann has worked with half-marathon and full marathon runners through athletic training and has experience with preventive care and injury assessment to assist student-athletes train and perform at their best levels. “The success of cross country runners is practice and perseverance,” says Coach Thumann. “I have been impressed with the level of work these athletes put into their sport and look forward to seeing them compete during fall semester.”
Jeff Savage served as the head softball coach at NCAA Division I Delaware State University for 13 seasons. Savage posted an overall record of 364-301-1, including a 169-54 mark in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season games. Savage is an experienced clinician, having done lessons, camps, and clinics for over 30 years, in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Maryland and Ohio. In September, Savage will be inducted into the Delaware State University Athletic Hall of Fame. Savage joined the DSU staff after serving as head softball coach at Caesar Rodney High School in Camden, Delaware in 1998 and 1999.
After leaving Delaware State in 2012, Savage spent over two years as Director of Athletics at Dover High School in Dover, Delaware, before retiring in November of 2014 to move to North Carolina where he spent one year as Athletic Director at Wilkes Central High School. Jeff and his wife Cindy have two children, Sean and Janice, and two grandchildren, Colton and Jada.
“I’m excited to be at South Georgia State College and back in intercollegiate coaching,” says Coach Savage. “I am looking forward to helping our student-athletes succeed academically and athletically.”
Dr. Greg Tanner, athletic director and dean of students, says, “Our athletic program is pleased to have coaches of this caliber working with our student-athletes. At SGSC, we want to keep the tradition of having our athletes excel in their respective sports, as well as in the classroom. With these additions to our coaching staff, we plan to meet that goal and prepare them for the future. Our faculty, staff and administration fully support our athletic program and we are proud to call our student-athletes SGSC Hawks.”
For more information on these teams and other SGSC athletic teams, visit www.sgsc.edu.