HEAD COACH
SHAWN
ELLIOTT HEAD COACH
A coaching veteran who brought 20 years of experience in winning programs, Shawn Elliott was introduced as Georgia State’s third head football coach by President Mark Becker and Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb on Dec. 9, 2016.
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coaching veteran who brought 20 years of experience in winning programs, Shawn Elliott was introduced as Georgia State’s third head football coach by President Mark Becker and Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb on Dec. 9, 2016. Elliott came to GSU after highly successful stints at South Carolina, where he served as the co-offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and interim head coach, and Appalachian State, where he coached the offensive line. In 23 seasons as a Division I coach, Elliott has been part of 21 winning seasons, 18 teams that reached the NCAA playoffs or a bowl game, and three consecutive NCAA FCS titles from 2005-07. That success has continued at Georgia State, where Elliott has led the Panthers to bowl games in two of his three seasons in Atlanta. Other highlights of his first three years at GSU include the first bowl victory in school history, Georgia State’s first winning season as an FBS program, and school-record seven-win campaigns in both 2017 and 2019.
The 2019 season began with another major first for the Georgia State program as Elliott’s Panthers earned a dominating 38-30 victory over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium for the school’s first win over a Power 5 opponent. Elliott was named the Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week, and his Panthers were recognized as the FWAA Reveal Suits National Team of the Week. That is the third time that Elliott has been part of the National Team of the Week; his Appalachian State team was recognized for its 2007 victory at Michigan and his South Carolina squad for its 2010 win over No. 1 Alabama. The win over Tennessee launched a record-setting 2019 season as the Panthers won seven games in the regular season for the first time and achieved their best home record with a 5-1 mark at Georgia State Stadium. Bolstered by one of the top rushing attacks in the nation, the 2019 team set numerous team and individual records, most notably establishing new season standards for points, touchdowns, rushing yards and total offense.
Despite taking over a Georgia State program playing just its eighth season of football in 2017, Elliott not only guided GSU to a bowl game in his first year at the helm, but he led the Panthers to their first bowl victory, 27-17 over Western Kentucky in the AutoNation Cure Bowl. That win gave the program a school-record seven victories in Elliott’s first season. Individual honors in Elliott’s first three seasons include 26 All-Sun Belt Conference honorees, Georgia State’s first two players selected to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, seven former players signed to NFL free agent contracts and a first-round selection in the CFL draft. The accolades extend to the classroom with GSU’s first Academic All-American® as well as five Academic All-District® selections in three seasons. The Panthers posted a program-record 3.03 GPA in his Elliott’s first semester and then nearly matched that with a 3.0 for the spring 2020 term. Before taking over the Georgia State program, Elliott worked seven seasons (201016) at South Carolina under Will Muschamp and Steve
