Georgia State Football: Chance To Coach Son Added To Dell McGee's Excitement For Head Coach Job

Joe Londergan | Jul 23, 2024

Feb 26, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia State Panthers head football coach Dell McGee addresses the media at the press conference announcing his hiring at Center Parc Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia State wide receiver Austin McGee didn't join his head coach father at Georgia State. Rather, it was the other way around.

Austin McGee signed as part of Georgia State's 2024 recruiting class this past December. Then in February, Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott resigned his position, joining the staff at South Carolina as an assistant.

Around that point, Austin's father Dell McGee became a prime candidate for the open job after multiple championship seasons up the road in Athens as Georgia's running backs coach and associate head coach.

For the senior McGee, the chance to formally coach his son made the job a bit more alluring.

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"It was definitely on my radar as soon as it hit just because of the location, the outstanding facilities that Georgia State has," McGee said of the GSU job during ESPN's Sun Belt Media Days broadcast on Tuesday. "Another added benefit, my son had signed in December, so it was like I have a chance to possibly coach my son, if I get this job. So it was very exciting when I saw the news of Shawn moving on to South Carolina."

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While Dell McGee has dedicated the last 22 years of his professional life to coaching, he has not yet had the opportunity to coach his son in an organized capacity. That being said, his role as a dad and his job as a coach have overlapped as Austin has taken his own journey.

"When I was watching him play, I tried to be dad, tried to be there as a supporter, but of course we'd have our film sessions when we had time to evaluate his play and what he was going to see in the game. But it's actually rewarding because I'm probably going to spend more time with my son now than I have in the previous four years of his life, just based on the work schedule that we had at Georgia. So it's definitely going to be a pleasure."

McGee joins the Panthers as a receiver from Athens Academy, where he was a two-way player and eared a three-star rating from 247Sports.

The Panthers will play their first game under McGee's leadership on August 31 at Georgia Tech.