Georgia State is hiring South Carolina offensive line coach Shawn Elliott as its new head coach, according to multiple reports, including the first one from 247Sports.
South Carolina assistant Shawn Elliott reportedly hired as Georgia State head coach
The Panthers reportedly go with South Carolina’s offensive line coach to replace Trent Miles.
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Elliott, 43, was South Carolina’s interim coach for the second half of the 2015 season, after Steve Spurrier retired mid-year. He went 1-5 down the stretch, and the Gamecocks hired ex-Florida coach Will Muschamp as Spurrier’s long-term replacement. With Muschamp in charge and Elliott coaching the team’s offensive linemen, the Gamecocks went from 3-9 to 6-6 and got a bid to the Birmingham Bowl.
Elliott has spent the last seven years in Columbia. He was previously the team’s running game coordinator and co-offensive coordinator, at turns between 2010 and 2015.
Before Columbia, Elliott spent 1997 through 2009 as an assistant at Appalachian State, while the Mountaineers were still an FCS outfit. He was App State’s offensive line coach for most of his time in Boone, though he earlier worked as a tight ends coach and defensive assistant. He was on staff when the ’Eers shocked Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2007. More significantly, he had a hand in three straight national titles for App State from 2005 to 2007. Spurrier hired him at South Carolina in 2010.
Elliott takes over a program that had a rough year in 2016. GSU only started playing football in 2010, and getting good takes time. The Panthers only jumped to the FBS level in 2013, and they went 1-23 in their first two years.
They jumped to bowl eligibility in 2015 but declined to 3-9 this year, with a decent defense but an offense that couldn’t get past 20 points per game. Trent Miles lost his job with a combined 9-38 record in four seasons.
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