Georgia State has had a busy offseason from new recruits and transfers coming in, to signing a former Georgia running back coach to lead the Panthers for the upcoming years. These changes will be on full display this Saturday as the Panthers battles their in-city neighbors, Georgia Tech, at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Soon after the Panther’s Potato Bowl win against Utah State, former Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott shocked fans, resigning from his role to join the South Carolina Gamecocks as their tight end coach. Shortly after Elliott’s departure, the Panther’s signed Georgia running back coach Dell McGee to a 5-year deal.
On the recruiting side, the Panthers lost 36 players to the transfer portal, most notably current Missouri running back Marcus Carol, who finished 10 in yards across the nation along with wide receiver Robert Lewis, and cornerback Bryquice Brown.
Despite this, they gained 33 players from the portal, including Georgia Tech quarterback Zach Gibson, Texas A&M cornerback Sam McCall, and Louisville defensive lineman Victoine Brown. The Panthers signed an additional 14 highschool players including McGee son Austin, a three star defensive back/ wide receiver from Athens Academy.
Expectations aren’t high for the Panthers as FOX Sports analyst RJ Young predicts Georgia State to finish under five wins as they have a tough schedule ahead of them. The Panthers start the season on the road against Georgia Tech followed by four straight home games including Vaderbilt and rival Georgia Southern. The Panthers close out the season with five out of seven games on the road creating a difficult pathway to the Sun Belt championship.
Georgia State can outperform expectations though as key defensive players Gavin Pringle, Kevin Swint, Justin Abraham and Tennessee Tech transfer Jyron Gilmore could all play pivotal roles in deciding games.
McGee highlighted these players, telling 24/7 Sports, “They’re approaching practice with the correct mindset. They’re kind of holding the standard to everyone else. They’re not afraid to confront and demand of their peers when they’re doing wrong.”
There still has yet to be any major standouts on the offensive side as McGee told reporters there are no, “born, natural leaders.”
McGee followed this saying, “One thing I learned in coaching – you can’t force someone to be a leader from a vocal standpoint, so we just gotta kind of see and continue down that road and see who kind of shows their voice on that side of the ball.”
The big question for the Panthers is who will open the season at quarterback. The position battle has narrowed down to the two transfer quarterbacks Zach Gibson and Christian Veilleux.
Georgia State is Veilleux’s third college as he originally signed with Penn State in 2021 but later transferred to Pitt in 2022. Veilleux has totaled 1,458 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
As for Gibson, this will also be his third school as he started his college career at Akron. He has totaled 3,060 yards, and 16 touchdowns to 10 interceptions over his four-year career. Gibson currently has the best odds to take the starting role against his former team as he has the most experience at the position being a five-year senior.
