The feeling surrounding the Georgia State football program is quite different than it was a year ago, when Dell McGee was brought in as head coach and had to hurriedly assemble a staff, shake the bushes for more players and rush through spring practice.
Now that McGee has been on the job for a year, he’s had a chance to put his own imprint on the team. After the team opened spring practice Tuesday, McGee likes what he sees and is looking forward to seeing more.
“This is probably my favorite time of the year,” McGee said. “You get a chance to establish the culture and how things are going to be laid and you can see the makings of something special. I’ve told our team already, I know what good football teams look like and we’ve got one. We keep trying to get 1% better every single day, keep our goals in mind and make great decisions, on and off the football field.”
The Panthers will have 15 practice sessions, concluding with the spring game at 4 p.m. April 11 at Center Parc Stadium.
“I wouldn’t say we’re ahead (of where they were last year) because we’ve got so many new guys, new coaches, so we’re still getting on the same page,” McGee said. “But I know the players because we recruited them. We were in their homes. They visited us. We know them. They know us. We went through the offseason together.”
The Panthers opened spring camp with 15 high schoolers who enrolled early, 15 transfers from the portal and eight junior college products.
“You can definitely see how hard they’ve worked in the offseason with our winter program and our ‘Fourth-quarter conditioning program’ and the camaraderie connection and all the things that are going make this program,” McGee said.
For the returning players, there’s a better sense of community and understanding of the expectations.
“It’s a lot more comfortable, especially for me since I came from Tennessee Tech last year,” junior defensive back Jyron Gilmore said. “I kind of didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t even know if they would want me to be here. I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable, because I feel like that goes along with complacency, but I definitely have a better feeling with the coaches going through last season with them.”
Plenty of eyes are on the quarterback room, where Christian Veilleux started eight games and threw for 2,047 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and P.J. Hatter (Texas State), Cam Brown (Texas Tech) and T.J. Stanley (Turner County High School) are new additions. Zach Gibson, the late-season starter who missed the final two games with a knee injury entered the transfer portal.
“All three guys we brought in have mobility. They can run. They’re built sturdy,” McGee said. “Guys are really attacking the playbook, trying to learn the details of their assignments. Once the depth charts are kind of set, we’ll get into, ‘What does this guy do best? Can we cater certain plays for this player?’ We’ll get into those things after spring ball and once we get into summer and fall camp.”
Spring practice also provides a chance for the new staff changes to kick in. Longtime NFL coach and former Falcons assistant coach Hue Jackson, the program’s assistant GM of football, is taking over as offensive coordinator after Jim Chaney retired. Travis Pearson, most recently the cornerbacks coach at Troy, is the new defensive coordinator, replacing Deron Wilson, who left for Florida after holding the job for a month.
Other new faces are offensive line coach Bryant Ross, who came from Louisiana-Lafayette, and safeties coach Charles “C.J.” Wilford, who most recently spent time at Florida and Arkansas. Jeremy Hawkins was promoted from assistant defensive line coach to assistant head coach. Jess Sutherland was elevated from offensive analyst to tight ends coach, and grad assistant Juwan Taylor, who played at Georgia, was promoted to inside linebackers coach.
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