and the fall of 2019, SIU athletics was led by three-time national coach-of-the-year Jerry Kill. He was replaced by Liz Jarnigan, who left the university in 2021 amid an alleged cover-up scandal.
=== Athletic highlights ===
8 National Championships in men's gymnastics (1963, 1966, 1967, 1972), men's golf (1964), men's tennis (1964), men's basketball (1967, NIT Championship), and football (1983)
53 Olympians including 3 silver medalists and 13 top-ten individual finishes
102 All-Time CSC Academic All-Americans, leading the Missouri Valley Conference
42 NFL players, 9 NBA players, 25 MLB players
In baseball, finished second place in the National Championship in 1968 and 1971
In men's basketball, advanced to the NCAA tournament for six straight seasons between 2002 and 2007, including two trips to the Sweet Sixteen
In women's basketball, was Missouri Valley Conference champions in 2007 and in 2022
In football, was in the playoffs for seven straight years between 2003 and 2009, and advanced to the quarterfinals …
