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Georgia State lost head coach Shawn Elliott on Thursday as it was announced he planned to return to South Carolina in an assistant role. Elliott had been the Panthers’ leader since 2017, posting a 41-44 overall record.
Prior, he’d been on Steve Spurrier’s staff with the Gamecocks as an offensive line coach.
The news comes at an interesting time with college football programs now kicking off their spring practice sessions. Georgia State reportedly started its official offseason training this week.
Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott has resigned to become TE coach at South Carolina, source told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st reported by @247sports. GSU started spring practice just 2 days ago under Elliott, who was 41-44 in 7 seasons
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) February 15, 2024
Expected to be entering Year 8 with their head coach, Panthers’ players are now in a state of confusion.
Elliott seemed eager to start the year earlier this week with what he called a roster full of fresh faces.
We spoke with GSU HC Shawn Elliott 48 hours ago as Panthers started spring practice..
“Always great to be back on playing field… lot of new faces…makes it fun to coach new players”
Now.. 2 days later… he’s off to South Carolina to coach TE’s pic.twitter.com/LdxYLUkTxe
— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) February 15, 2024
But just a few short days later, he’s gone.
With the seemingly unexpected move now official, Georgia State has postponed both its spring practice session and spring game. The timing of the decision could have a massive impact on team chemistry moving forward.
Georgia State has postponed spring practice and its spring game because head coach Shawn Elliott resigned to become the tight ends coach at South Carolina two days into spring practices at GSU.
Never seen anything like this before.
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) February 15, 2024
The Panthers lost a TON of play makers from its 2023 roster, ranking 129th in the nation in returning production. Elliott mentioned those newcomers in his most recent presser, and one would assume Georgia State is set to see a down year given the lack of experience.
That being said, this spring was an important time for the staff to identify impact players and for the team to gel.
Why did Shawn Elliott leave?
This question has been asked by many around the college football world. While not a national contender, Georgia State is a top Group of Five destination that’s been known to play tough with the big boys.
The Panthers knocked off Tennessee in 2019, nearly beat Auburn in 2021, and hung with both South and North Carolina in 2022.
And there’s also the fact that he’s moving from head coach to assistant, even if it is a step up in competition.
Matt Barrie of ESPN hinted that Elliott foresaw a downward trajectory incoming.
“Spoke with Coach Elliott at the Senior Bowl in Mobile,” Barrie posted on X. “He told me NIL challenges and player retention at Georgia State was going to get worse in this new era. Everything is fine. Nothing to see here.”
That, combined with an inexperienced roster and familiarity with South Carolina might’ve been enough to make his decision.
Elliott is a native of Camden, SC just outside of Columbia. As noted before, he coached with the Gamecocks before moving onto Georgia State, and even took over as interim head coach following Steve Spurrier’s midseason departure in 2015.
The timing’s not great considering the spring practice schedule, but the opening recently became available given former South Carolina tight ends coach Justin Stepp’s decision to leave for Illinois.
While Elliott will see a homecoming with the Gamecocks, Georgia State players are probably feeling hung out to dry.