ATLANTA — Del McGee, a Georgia native with 22 years of coaching experience including back-to-back national titles as run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Georgia Bulldogs, becomes Georgia's fourth head football coach in history. was appointed. By GSU President Dr. M. Brian Blake and Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb.
McGee will be introduced at a press conference at 10 a.m. Monday at the University Club at Center Parc Stadium. The press conference will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
“I am proud to announce Coach Del McGee as our head football coach,” Cobb said. “Coach McGee is an outstanding and conscientious person with a strong passion for developing young players. His track record of competitive success at the high school and collegiate levels has led me to believe that he will lead our football program to its greatest accomplishments. We welcome Linda and Coach Del to Georgia State University! ”
McGee took over a Georgia State program that began play in 2010 and has appeared in six bowl games over the past nine years and won four times, including three in the past four seasons.
“I would like to thank President Blake, Athletic Director Charlie Cobb, and the entire search committee for giving me the opportunity to become the head football coach at Georgia State University,” McGee said.
“I have been a coach in Georgia for over 20 years, and as a native of this state, this opportunity to develop student-athletes here was a blessing I always knew I was prepared for.
“I am forever grateful to Coach Smart and the University of Georgia for supporting my dream of becoming a college head coach,” he continued.
“Georgia State University is poised for success. As a premier institution in America's best city, I can't wait to lead our football program in its pursuit of championships.”
The Columbus, Georgia native has spent nearly his entire coaching career in his home state. He spent the past eight seasons at the University of Georgia, where his abilities as a coach and recruiter contributed to the Bulldogs' remarkable success under Kirby Smart. McGee was a key part of a Georgia program that amassed 94 wins in eight seasons, including back-to-back College Football Playoff national championships in 2021 and 2022, a berth in the 2017 CFP title game, and a Bowl 8 appearance. His brilliance was highlighted with the win. He has won two Southeastern Conference titles and six SEC Eastern Division titles.
Rivals.com named McGee the 2018 National Recruiter of the Year after the Bulldogs signed a recruiting class rated consensus No. 1, and Georgia State from 2017-2023. He contributed to the acquisition and development of 56 NFL draft picks, including 15 first-round picks and NFL draft picks. -A record of 25 players drafted in the past two years.
McGee joined Smart's Georgia staff in 2016 as the running backs coach and worked in that position throughout his tenure in Athens. He also served as assistant head coach in 2018 and was named run game coordinator in 2019.
In eight seasons at UGA, McGee coached four 1,000-yard rushers. Sony Michel in 2017. D'Andre Swift in 2018-19. Chubb and Michel combined for more than 8,400 yards and 87 touchdowns. Chubb, Michel, Swift, and James Cook and Zamir White were all selected in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft.
Before going to Georgia, McGee worked as the running backs coach at Georgia Southern for two seasons (2014-2015). In December 2015, he served as interim head coach and led the Eagles to victory in the Go Daddy Bowl.
He spent the 2013 season as an analyst at his alma mater, Auburn, and was part of the staff that led the Tigers to a berth in the 2013-14 BCS National Championship Game, with McGee as their coach. It was one of four games. He was also part of an undefeated team at Auburn University, making the crucial interception against Alabama and helping the Tigers remain undefeated in the 1993 season.
He began his coaching career in prep as an assistant coach at Harris County High School (2002) and Greenville High School (2003-2004) in Georgia, before taking his first head coaching job at Carver-Columbus High School in 2005. obtained. He built that program. He grew into an eternal powerhouse, winning 10 or more games in seven consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2012.
McGee attended Kendrick High School in Columbus, Georgia and was a two-year starter and four-year letterwinner at Auburn University from 1992 to 1995.
He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft and spent three NFL seasons with the Cardinals and Detroit Lions. He also played in the NFL, Europe, XFL, and Arena Football during his seven-year professional career.
Del and his wife Linda have one son, Austin, a high school senior at Athens Academy and a member of Georgia State University's 2023-24 recruiting class after signing with the Panthers in December.
