It was easy to connect the dots when news broke that Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott left his position on the second day of spring practice to take an assistant coaching job at an SEC school.
With FBS head coaches already having made similar jumps this offseason, the logical presumption was that Elliott was one more coach tired of dealing with the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals and looking for a way out. But that isn’t the reason why Elliott resigned as head coach Thursday to take a job as tight ends coach at South Carolina.
It was his family, which has remained in Columbia, South Carolina, for the past seven years even as Elliott himself made the move down I-20.
Elliott confirmed it to ESPN’s Chris Low, saying that his family had made the situation work for the past seven years, but that he had even considered not coaching this year in order to get back to his home state of South Carolina.
“I had promised my daughter that I would be there for her senior year of high school and when this opportunity came up to go back to South Carolina and coach again, it was something I couldn’t pass up,” Elliott said. “I’ve always loved South Carolina.”
It followed reporting done by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Before the ESPN report, a person close to Elliott told the AJC that, “if family’s not a huge, huge part of this, it would blow my mind.”
The timing was not ideal for Georgia State, but his priorities are worthy of commendation. In a profession of grinders who put career ahead of family, Elliott should be held up as an example for doing the opposite and thanked by Georgia State fans for his good work in seven seasons with the Panthers.
Elliott is married (his wife, Summer) with two children (his son, Max, and his daughter, Maddyn) who are students at A.C. Flora High in Columbia.
It is not an uncommon arrangement. The family often was in Atlanta, and Elliott frequently made the drive to Columbia to be present in his children’s lives. Speaking with media, there were times when he got emotional talking about missing their events.
An October 2023 story in the Columbia Star told of Elliott’s being at A.C. Flora football games when his schedule allowed, with Max on the team and Maddyn cheerleading.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to watch your son or daughter in sports or do anything competition-wise, it’s pretty special,” Elliott told the Star. “I try to be at everything I can.”
It fits with Elliott’s character. Elliott was not the type to insist that his assistant coaches keep long hours, as is the expectation at many programs.
Why now?
An opening was created last week when South Carolina coach Shane Beamer lost tight ends coach Justin Stepp to Illinois. Undoubtedly, Elliott’s income makes this a much easier decision than it would be for most families. He’ll likely take a pay cut – he made $811,000 last year at Georgia State, according to a USA Today database, and last year’s tight ends coach at South Carolina made $400,000 – but let’s hope the Elliotts can make it. The gasoline expenses at least will be dramatically lower.
Still, Elliott is moving a rung down the coaching ladder. There’s no certainty that he’ll ever get the sort of chance he did at Georgia State.
The timing was regrettable – Georgia State started spring practice Tuesday; now it has been postponed – but life doesn’t always happen on a schedule. Better to jump than to stay with mixed feelings, and, further, not to honor a promise made to his daughter.
It does create chaos at Georgia State and for athletic director Charlie Cobb. The 2024 signing class has been made official, spring practice has been postponed, a new coach needs to be hired and players will be free to go into the transfer portal over the next 30 days.
Those who bemoan the problems created by the rule that opens the portal for players whose head coaches leave hopefully will remember that it’s in place because coaches are allowed to leave whenever they desire. NCAA rules grant football players two windows totaling 45 days to put their names in the portal. Coaches have 365.
As admirable as Elliott’s decision is, it does come with consequences for those he recruited, and they deserve the same opportunity to make immediate decisions on their futures, just like their coach.
In the meantime, one possible candidate that Cobb would be wise to consider is Texas running backs coach Tashard Choice, the former Georgia Tech star and assistant coach. Choice’s coaching ability – seen in the steady procession of running backs he has helped usher to the NFL, including the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson, the Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs and the 49ers’ Jordan Mason – needs no embellishment.
Among other qualities, Choice is a standout recruiter, a gifted and passionate communicator, is beloved by Tech and Texas running backs and has a heart for Atlanta, having grown up in Jonesboro. He would be most deserving of the opportunity.
As he departs, Elliott has earned the good wishes of Panthers fans. He took over a program launched in 2010 at the FCS level under the leadership of Bill Curry. The Panthers moved to FBS in 2013 and were 10-39 in Trent Miles’ four seasons, with one bowl game appearance.
In Elliott’s seven seasons, the Panthers went to five bowl games and had four seasons in which they were .500 or better in the Sun Belt. He was 4-3 against archrival Georgia Southern. He led an upset of Tennessee on the road in 2019. It’s worth remembering, too, that this is a program that had yet to play its first game 15 years ago.
On to the next chapter, for Shawn Elliott and Georgia State. The world of college athletics never stops spinning.
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