Joseph Wiley Gilliam Sr. (March 27, 1927[1] – November 14, 2012) was an American football coach. He played football and basketball in college.
Gilliam was born in Steubenville, Ohio and graduated from Steubenville High School in 1945.[2] He began his collegiate playing career at Indiana University Bloomington, where he played on the 1945 Indiana Hoosiers football team. After one semester at Indiana University, he joined the United States Army.[2] In the fall of 1947, he enrolled at West Virginia State College (class of 1952), where he was an All-American at quarterback.[2]
Gilliam was head football and basketball coach at Oliver High School in Winchester, Kentucky from 1952 to 1954, winning a state championship in football in 1954.
Gilliam joined coach John Merritt's coaching staff at Jackson State University in 1955 and left in 1957 to become head coach at Kentucky State University. After compiling a record of 2–13–1 at Kentucky State, he coached briefly at the high school level before returning to Merritt's staff at Jackson State. He followed Merritt to Tennessee State University,[3] where, as defensive coordinator, he helped the Tigers to four undefeated seasons and seven black college football national championships in a 20-year span.
Gilliam served as head coach at Tennessee State from 1989 to 1992, earning Ohio Valley Conference Coach Of The Year honors in 1990.
Gilliam is father of former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Joe Gilliam, and the grandfather of R&B singer Joi. Gilliam was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall Of Fame in 2007. At the time of his death, Gilliam was residing in Nashville.