Anthony Silkwood is in his second year with the program and returns to a coaching role after serving as director of baseball operations and player development in his first season at Jacksonville State. He will serve as the pitching coach on Steve Bieser's staff.
Silkwood brings head coaching experience to the staff after serving as head coach of the Cobras of Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois.
Silkwood joined the Cobra coaching staff in the spring of 2021, serving as head coach for two seasons. Parkland College went 77-36-2 under Silkwood, including 40-23-1 in conference play. A former Parkland College pitcher from 2019-2020, he produced one NJCAA DII First Team All-American (Austin Gomm), five members of the NJCAA DII Region 24 All-Region Team and the M-WAC All-Conference First Team (Keenan Taylor, Cole Evans, Alex Pipes, Austin Gomm, Chase Becker), and three M-WAC All-Conference Second Team selections (Mitch Mueller, Nick Gregory, Jackson Blemler).
Silkwood spent two seasons in charge of the Parkland College Baseball program, A total of 31 student-athletes transferred on to continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year schools. The pitching staff, under Silkwood’s Tutelage led the country in two categories - strikeouts ( 573 ) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.86). Highlighting the pitching staff was the M-WAC Conference Pitcher of the Year in Alex Pipes, who is now at Jacksonville State.
In the two years Silkwood headed the Parkland College Baseball program, 31 student-athletes transferred on to continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year schools.
Prior to Parkland, Silkwood was the pitching coach for national tournament bound University of Illinois Springfield (D2) where he was instrumental in the development of the pitching staff including Quinn Gudaitis who was selected in the 16th round by the Detroit Tigers in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.
Originally from East Alton, Illinois, Anthony Silkwood was a sergeant tank commander in the Marines Corps for five years, stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina prior to his playing career. In 2014 Silkwood deployed to the Middle East, and his stops included Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. During the deployment, the Marquette High School alum was responsible for vehicle checkpoints and a security team.
Silkwood, the son of Joe Silkwood, a standout player, coach, and minor leaguer for the St. Louis Cardinals, spent three summers coaching the newly created Yard Goats travel baseball team in Central Illinois.
