When new Georgia State coach Dell McGee was burning through his unlimited cellphone numbers while putting together a staff, he leaned heavily on coaches with experience.
He started with two veterans – offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer – and worked from there. Now that all the pieces are in place, McGee has a staff loaded with coaches who have worked at the Division I level, many of them in the SEC.
“That experience helps,” said McGee, whose team is in its second week of spring practice. “They understand how we practice and how we do things. I know I can leave them, and they can take care of their side of the ball and coach their coaches on their respective sides of the ball. It allows me to do a lot of other things I had no idea I had to do. So, it’s been good, good, good deal to have Kevin and Jim run the offenses and defenses.”
Chaney has 39 years of experience at the college and profession levels, which includes time as offensive coordinator at Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, Pitt, Purdue and Cal State-Fullerton. Chaney and McGee worked together at Georgia from 2016-18. Chaney also will coach tight ends at GSU.
Sherrer worked last season as linebackers coach at Georgia Tech. He spent two seasons as linebackers coach with the New York Giants from 2020-21. He previously worked at Georgia, Tennessee, South Alabama and Alabama. He also will coach linebackers at Georgia State.
“Kevin and Jim are two guys that I’ve worked with, friends, but who also demand excellence on both sides of the ball,” McGee said. “I know they’re leaders of men, so I knew I could trust those two individuals to establish both sides of the ball, along with our special-teams coordinator. And then everybody else was how do they fit from a recruiting standpoint? Being good role models for our kids? And just understanding the importance of winning.”
The offensive staff includes former Charlotte and Austin Peay coach Will Healy (running backs), former Texas A&M assistant Dameyune Craig (wide receivers), and former Georgia analysts Manrey Saint-Amour (offensive line) and Ryan Williams (quarterbacks).
Healy spent 2023 as senior head coach and analyst at Central Florida. He won the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the national coach of the year, at Austin Peay in 2017.
Craig was the starting quarterback at Auburn and MVP of the 1997 Peach Bowl, and played five seasons as a professional. He has been a college assistant at LSU, Tuskegee, South Alabama, Florida State and Auburn, with the last seasons at Texas A&M.
Saint-Amour played at North Gwinnett High School and was an offensive lineman at Georgia Southern during the time McGee was on the staff there. He coached at Charleston Southern, Alabama and Florida State before spending time as assistant offensive line coach at UGA.
The defensive staff includes former Eastern Kentucky assistant Jeremy Hawkins (defensive line), former Auburn analyst Jeremiah Wilson (safeties) and John Adams (nickel backs), who won two state championships in three seasons at Cedar Grove High School.
Hawkins had been at Eastern Kentucky as defensive line coach since 2020 after stops at Mercer, LSU and Alabama-Birmingham. Wilson spent two seasons at Auburn after making stops at Akron, Tennessee, Florida State and Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Antreal Allen, the lone holdover from the previous staff, remains as cornerbacks coach. Allen lettered four seasons at GSU and has been on staff since 2022.
McGee also named Carter Blount as associate head coach and special-teams coordinator/director of quality control and K.J. Florence as head strength coach. Blount was senior special-teams analyst at Georgia Tech in 2023 and has 11 years of experience, including time in the NFL. Florence was an assistant strength coach at UGA and previously spent time at Virginia Tech, Ole Miss and Marshall.
Practice continues at Georgia State, which concludes with the spring game at 4:30 p.m. April 12 at Center Parc Stadium.
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