Fort Valley State hires HBCU legend Willie Totten to coaching staff

Fort Valley State has been making moves to stay competitive in the SIAC following the departure of Shawn Gibbs to lead North Carolina A&T. Since Gibbs’s exit, the institution hired Marlon Watson, former Prairie View A&M defensive backs and special teams coach for Prairie View A&M University. Now with Watson in tow, he’s brought on a special name to help him lead his new team: Willie “Satallite” Totten.

Totten made his hire official via his LinkedIn and will serve as the Wildcat’s assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Totten is most known for his legendary run in the “Satallite Express” offense run by Archie “The Gunslinger” Cooley at Mississippi Valley State in the mid-1980s. Totten’s primary target was Jerry Rice, who went on to become one of the best players in NFL history after his stint with the Delta Devils.

Totten delivered incredible stats throughout his career, racking up 13,128 passing yards and 141 touchdowns. He set over 50 NCAA records and earned All-American honors and First-Team All-SWAC selections every year of his college career. After graduating in 1986, Willie Totten pursued a professional football career. During the 1987 NFL strike, he made his debut as a starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, filling in for Jim Kelly in two games.

Totten also spent two seasons playing in Canada with the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts. Additionally, he played three seasons in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Bruisers, Pittsburgh Gladiators, and New Orleans Night. He began the second chapter of his career as a coach at his alma mater, Mississippi Valley State, in 1990 as an assistant coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1996. After seven seasons there, along with two years coaching at Eastside High in Cleveland, he returned to Mississippi Valley State as offensive coordinator in 2000.

In 2002, he was named the 14th head coach of the Delta Devils football program. In his first season, he led the team to an impressive turnaround, improving from a winless season the year before to a 5-6 record. Over seven seasons as head coach, Totten achieved a 31-57 overall record, including two 6-5 seasons in 2005 and 2006, which remain the program’s most recent winning seasons.

Totten isn’t unfamiliar in SIAC circles, as he served as quarterbacks coach for Albany State in 2013. He most recently worked at Southern University as the quarterback’s coach in the 2024 season. Now, he looks to bring an electric and high-powered offense to the Marlon Watson-led Fort Valley State squad that thrived on the offensive end under Shawn Gibbs.