CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Parkland College Athletics and Cobras Baseball are proud to announce that head coach Anthony Silkwood has accepted an assistant coaching position with Jacksonville State University, serving as the director of player development, and he will be resigning from his current role as head coach.
 
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).
 
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.
 
"I want to thank Brendan McHale and Parkland College for the opportunity to head the program that I was fortunate enough to play for," Silkwood said in a statement. "Parkland Athletics has a special group of highly invested coaches and athletes that I will truly miss. The coaching staff will continue to move Parkland College in the right direction. I wish nothing but the best of luck to all the athletic programs."
 
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, has spent the past three summers coaching the newly created Yard Goats travel baseball team in Central Illinois.
 
"I can't thank Anthony enough for all his time, energy and dedication to the Parkland College baseball program," Parkland College Athletic Director Brendan McHale said of the two-year head coach. "It's always great when an alum returns to coach and lead one of the Cobra teams and be as successful as he was. Anthony's attention to detail and strive for success was evident the moment he joined the Cobra Athletic Department. He consistently held his student-athletes to a high level of expectation both in the classroom as well as on the baseball field."
 
"I wish Anthony nothing but the best, and I am fully confident Coach Silkwood will be successful in this next step of his journey," McHale added.