Can abundance of new faces help redirect the Georgia State football program?

Georgia State head coach Dell McGee is hopeful a fresh infusion of players can help lift the program out of the cellar of the Sun Belt Conference and back into contention for another bowl appearance.

The Panthers added 77 new players during the offseason — 34 high school signees and walk-ons and 43 transfers via the portal. They join the 45 holdovers to give McGee, considered one of the nation’s best recruiters, a better opportunity to return to relevance in the league.

“We feel like those 77 new additions have supplemented our program,” McGee said Wednesday at the Sun Belt’s Preseason Media Days event in New Orleans. “But ultimately, the direction of our program is going to be spearheaded by the 45 guys who return.”

McGee got a late start last year, being hired in February after Shawn Elliott unexpectedly returned to the University of South Carolina to take a job as run coordinator with the Gamecocks. McGee didn’t have the time to recruit players to fit the schemes he wanted to run or produce the ammunition needed to compete in the difficult Sun Belt Conference.

Now McGee has had an opportunity to sign his first real recruiting class. And when the Panthers open preseason on Wednesday, it will be infused with McGee’s DNA.

“I really can’t compare (to where we were last year), but I can say the 77 additions, we’ve created competition in every single room, and we feel like the competition will push the needle from a standpoint of accountability and competitiveness,” McGee said.

The rest of the league wants to see some proof before they get on the bandwagon. The Panthers went 3-9 last year — although four losses were by a touchdown or less — and were picked to again finish last in the East Division in the preseason poll conducted by the coaches. James Madison was picked to finish first in the East, with Georgia Southern finishing second in the poll. Louisiana was chosen to win the West.

Georgia State had only two players selected to the Sun Belt’s preseason all-conference team — wide receiver Ted Hurst (first team) and defensive lineman Henry Bryant (second team).

Hurst, a senior from Savannah, was last year’s breakout star after transferring in from Valdosta State. He led the team with 56 receptions for 961 yards and a school-record nine touchdowns. Hurst flirted with the transfer portal before returning to the fold.

Bryant, a redshirt senior from Delray Beach, Florida, who transferred in from Louisville in 2023, played 12 games and finished with 30 tackles, 5 ½ tackles for loss and four sacks. He graduated from school in the spring.

“Holding our team accountable is really one of the tiers that our players must uphold,” McGee said. “With the leadership of our 45 returning guys, they understand how we practice. They understand what it takes in the off-season, in the weight room and in summer conditioning. They’ve done a great job pushing that agenda forward.”

Hurst said, “We live and condition by group, so that makes everyone push their level of competition, with everybody wanting to be able to compete and be first, whether that’s the sprints or lifting the most weight. It’s pushing people to do better.”