Born in Steubenville, Ohio in 1929, Joe Gilliam demonstrated outstanding leadership at an early age by earning All-American honors as quarterback for West Virginia State. He went on to serve as head football and basketball coach at Oliver High School in Winchester, Kentucky, where his football team captured the state championship in 1954.
Gilliam then worked under Coach John Merritt at Jackson State University from 1955-58 before accepting his first collegiate head-coaching job at Kentucky State University; he later returned to Jackson State. The coaching trio of John Merritt, Alvin Coleman and Joe Gilliam was lured to Nashville by Tennessee State University President Dr. Walter Davis to rebuild TSU’s sagging football program. They would become one of the greatest coaching staffs to remain intact over the next twenty years.
From 1963-1983, Gilliam served as assistant coach, defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator, acting head coach and head coach of the TSU football program. During this time, Gilliam, Merritt and Coleman’s TSU Tigers compiled an era record of 184-42-8 for an amazing .803 winning percentage. Coach Joe Gilliam ruled the Tiger defense with an executed discipline that stopped opponent’s offenses like a steel curtain.
One season, his defense led by All-American Ed “Too Tall” Jones and his hard-hitting Tiger teammates held their opponents to a NCAA record, minus yardage for the season. Coaches Merritt, Gilliam and Coleman directed TSU to four undefeated seasons (1965, 1966, 1970, 1973) and seven Black National Football Titles (1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1982).
Coach Gilliam went on to serve TSU as Head Football Coach from 1989-92, earning OVC Coach of the Year in 1990. Throughout his career, Gilliam sent several players to the NFL including Ed “Too Tall” Jones (Dallas Cowboys); Wyman Bryant (Chicago Bears); James Mars (Kansas City Chiefs); Joe “Turkey” Jones (Cleveland Browns); “Jefferson Street” Joe Gilliam, Jr., (Pittsburgh Steelers); and Richard Dent (Chicago Bears).
Coach Gilliam has earned honors from Tennessee State University (1983), National Football College Hall of Fame Contribution Award (1987), All-American Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), and Black Men of Middle Tennessee Foundation Award (2004). Gilliam is an author and a sought after national speaker. He continues to live in Nashville.