Northeast Mississippi Community College Athletics

Sean Cannon is coming home to Northeast Mississippi Community College as its new defensive coordinator exactly 30 years after originally arriving on campus as a student-athlete. 

Cannon suited up for the late Hubert Tucker at Northeast during the 1993-94 seasons. He wrapped up his playing days at Delta State University before embarking on what has become a successful coaching career.

He has primarily stayed in his native Magnolia State with 21 combined years between stops at Itawamba Community College and Delta State. Cannon has also held positions at New Mexico Military Institute and the University of North Alabama.

Overall, Cannon has been part of four league championship teams and an NCAA Division II national title with the Statesmen. He has trained three national players of the year and 86 all-conference recipients.

Cannon was at Delta State for 10 total years between his time as a player and an instructor. He worked his way up the ladder from graduate assistant to defensive line coach to coordinator by 2003.

He was part of a special stretch in which the Statesmen won over 70 percent of their games from 1998-03. That included Delta State’s national championship team in 2000 that set the school record for most victories in a single season with 14.

Cannon’s linemen were part of an overall defense that allowed just 19 points per contest in the playoffs. The lone opponent to score more than 20 points during the Statesmen’s magical run was Bloomsburg (Pa.) University in the title matchup.

Two of Cannon’s understudies in defensive end Andre Brown and defensive tackle Ezell Powell earned All-Gulf South Conference (GSC) accolades for their roles in Delta State’s historic campaign.

Anthony Maddox was Cannon’s most decorated Statesman. The 300-pound lineman was a two-time All-American for Delta State plus the 2002 NCAA Division II and GSC Defensive Player of the Year.

Maddox eventually became just the third Statesman to be taken in the NFL Draft when Jacksonville selected him in the fourth round with the 118th pick in 2004. He was a member of the Jaguars and Texans rosters for parts of four seasons.

Another All-GSC performer for Cannon at Delta State was free safety Pete Golding, who is now the defensive coordinator at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). He topped the Statesmen with 85 tackles and eight pass break ups during his junior campaign.

Cannon got his first taste of coaching at the community college level in 2005 at New Mexico Military. His unit finished second in the now defunct Western States Football League (WSFL) with fewer than 130 passing yards allowed per game.

He came back to the Mid-South one year later to serve as the linebackers and strength coach for North Alabama. The Lions captured two GSC crowns and qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs each season with Cannon on its staff.

The Calhoun City product came within one victory of competing for another national championship in 2008 when North Alabama reached the semifinals. The Lions went a combined 44-7 during Cannon’s four-year stint.

Cannon directed four North Alabama standouts that secured All-GSC honors, including multi-time winners in Michael Johnson and Donald Tharpe. Johnson was a rare four-peat all-conference and all-super region awardee.

Johnson, who went on to ink undrafted free agent NFL contracts with Seattle and Kansas City, was a first-team All-American both as a junior and senior. He was the 2009 NCAA Division II and GSC Defensive Player of the Year after racking up 113 tackles, five sacks and four forced fumbles.

Cannon has spent the past 13 seasons at Itawamba. He was promoted to head coach in 2014 after originally joining the Indians as their defensive coordinator some four years earlier.

He was recognized as the 2019 Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) North Division Coach of the Year. The Indians were triumphant in five of their last six contests to claim a share of the division title.

Keshun Parker was acknowledged as Itawamba’s inaugural National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Defensive Player of the Year. He posted 18.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and five pass break ups under the watch of Cannon during the 2019 campaign.

Parker was one of four Indians that collected All-American distinction for Cannon. The other three are quarterback Dan Ellington, punter Jeb Millender and two-time honoree Terry Williams at wide receiver.

Cannon guided Itawamba to the state playoffs in 2015. He was rewarded for his efforts with the Indians that year by being chosen as headman of the North squad in the final MACCC All-Star Game in Biloxi.

He led the Indians to five consecutive winning seasons from 2015-19. Seven of Cannon’s Itawamba alumni advanced to the NFL, including active players Shakel Brown (Tennessee), Kemon Hall (Los Angeles) and Darius Slay (Philadelphia).

Slay headlines that group as a 10-year veteran and five-time Pro Bowl selection. He was first-team all-pro with Detroit in 2017 after tying Tennessee’s Kevin Byard for the most interceptions in the league with eight.

Williams is still going as well with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Over 100 of Cannon’s student-athletes from Itawamba and New Mexico Military signed scholarships with senior colleges. 

Cannon holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Delta State. He and his wife Julia have three children, Wade, who has followed in his dad’s footsteps as a football player for the Statesmen, Jenna and Josie.