Feb. 23, 2024, marked what Georgia State players, administration, and alum hope will serve as a turning point. In hiring Dell McGee, the school hoped that bringing in a coach with recent national championship experience would ignite the long-dormant flame of GSU football.
Dell McGee Navigated Rough Waters
Starting a tenure at 3-9 does not usually inspire faith in a reversal of fortunes.
However, College Sports Network awarded McGee a B- grade for handling a nightmare schedule and player loss:
“However, McGee had to overcome the loss of talented quarterback Darren Grainger (despite returning 48% of their 2023 production) while overcoming a conference schedule that included the 2024 Sun Belt champion Marshall Thundering Herd. The program secured a win over SEC opposition in Year 1 under McGee and saw a substantial boost in year-on-year recruiting.”
Darren Grainger accounted for 76 touchdowns for the Panthers. Now, he plays in the CFL. Marshall steamrolled everyone during their 2024 Sun Belt season, losing just one conference game.
McGee and his team fought through adversity all season. Four of their nine losses fell within a one-score parameter. GSU stayed in games, even late.
That level of competitiveness will pay dividends. Not to mention, GSU accomplished something in 2025 that Alabama failed to do. They beat America’s new favorite football team, Vanderbilt.
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From a statistical standpoint, the Panthers did not perform terribly. In fact, stats bear that out. The offense ranked 38th in FBS, averaging 255.8 yards per game. With a turnover margin of just -2, GSU did not suffer from catastrophic mistakes, even though they played as the outmanned team.
Moreover, on the defensive side of the ball, the team acquitted themselves better than expected, holding offenses to 208.3 passing yards, good for 48th. McGee routinely made a metaphorical dollar out of 15 cents.
Despite playing in Atlanta, GSU often struggles to lure elite talent to their campus. Several reasons cause this unfortunate situation. First, 2025 will mark the 13th season for Georgia State as an FBS program. With such a limited sample size comes limited visibility.
Currently, UGA, Clemson, Alabama, and Auburn, along with a host of other Power Four schools, including Georgia Tech divide the talent among each other. Perception fits into that, and McGee will need to change the optics surrounding GSU.
Located near the center of the city, some lump GSU with local HBCUs that may not offer football or do not field national powers. As a result, Atlanta’s second FBS school within the city limits suffers. Only one thing cures that.
For McGee to build a pipeline from Atlanta schools to campus, he must turn GSU into a perennial winner. The Panthers cannot rely on history. Right now, McGee can hang his hat on those championship rings he won as a UGA assistant after decades of coaching at the high school and college levels.
On top of that, while McGee takes time to build up the program’s local visibility and profile, relying on his home area could also help.
After coaching in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia, for eight seasons, he knows the high landscape. Columbus became the nonstop shop for the University of Alabama recruiters until Auburn, only 45 minutes away, started locking down talent.
Plenty of Columbus and Atlanta players jump in the transfer portal and either want to play near their hometown or for someone with a connection to it. The Panthers drew players back home from as far as Utah State.
One transfer to watch: Bernard Causey III, an LSU transfer who did not record a single stat for the Tigers. Yet, the move demonstrates what the coach needs to do to build a winner in the Sun Belt.
KEEP READING: McGee’s Salary, Contract, Net Worth, and More
While mostly under-discussed, Georgia State can boast a national athletic moment or two. Now, McGee needs to pull this team from the ranks of obscurity to a place where players will choose them, and Power Four schools will avoid scheduling them.
Backed by a randomly diverse alumni/attendee base that can simultaneously claim actress Julia Roberts, rapper Ludacris, and former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, Georgia State football can turn into something bigger.
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