The Georgia State Panthers football team is the college football program for Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. The Panthers football team was founded in 2010 and competes at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers currently play at Center Parc Stadium, about ten minutes from GSU's downtown campus.
History
Bill Curry era (2010–2012)
In November 2006, a study commissioned by Georgia State was completed and submitted back to the school. It found Georgia State to be in a good position to begin a competitive football team, and based its remarks on the location and resources of the university. It estimated that total annual expenses by 2012 would be $3.1 million.
On April 15, 2007, former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves was hired by Georgia State as a consultant.
On November 1, 2007, the university began discussing the possibility of adding football. It found that total costs would cost between $6.2 million and $33.8 million depending on several different factors, including whether a stadium would be built or a preexisting stadium would be used.
On April 17, 2008, Georgia State launched its football program. On June 12, 2008, former Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Kentucky head coach Bill Curry was named as the Georgia State head coach, working on a 5-year contract. This was followed by the hiring of John Bond as offensive coordinator, John Thompson as defensive coordinator, and George Pugh as assistant head coach, as well as Chris Ward and Anthony Midget.
On November 20, 2008, ground was broken for a downtown practice facility at 188 Martin Luther King Drive. The facility would eventually be expanded to include a 100-yard artificial turf field and a 50-yard natural turf field. The existing buildings were converted into facilities and offices for the football team.
On January 4, 2009, Mark Hogan, son of former Georgia Tech player Mark Hogan Sr., enrolled to play as wide receiver on scholarship, making him the first football player to receive a scholarship from Georgia State. The following month, the program signed its first recruiting class of 27 players, including the three-star running back Parris Lee.
On February 25, 2009, Georgia State named Cheryl Levick as athletic director. Levick left Maryland, where she had served as the school's executive senior athletic director. By June 11, the CAA announced that they Georgia State was joining the conference and would officially begin CAA play during the 2012 season.
The Panthers wouldn't play football until the 2010 season, and so the 2009 season was spent practicing at an NFL facility in downtown Atlanta. 71 players reported on August 14.
Georgia State's second recruiting class was signed on February 3, 2010. The team would go on to hold spring practice beginning on March 23, and would begin working out at the new practice facility by March 27.
On September 2, Georgia State played its first football game and home opener against the Shorter Hawks, winning the game 41–7. The first touchdown was recorded by Parris Lee. A crowd of 30,237 was present at the Georgia Dome including then Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, former mayor Andrew Young, amongst other dignitaries. Later during the last game of the season on November 18, Georgia State would play FBS defending national champion and number 10 ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, losing 63–7. The single touchdown was earned during a kick return by Albert Wilson. Georgia State would finish its inaugural year with a 6–5 record.
During its second year of play, the Panthers would record a 3–8 record. The season would be marked by a constant shuffle of quarterbacks after the 2009 starter Drew Little was suspended for the first four games and the second-string quarterback Kelton Hill was arrested prior to the season opener, leaving the punter, Bo Schlecter as starting quarterback.
The 2012 season marked the last with Bill Curry as head coach as he had stated that he would retire after the end of the season. Throughout the season, the Panthers were plagued with inconsistencies on both the offense and defense, made worse by injuries on either side and inexperienced quarterbacks. Curry would end his final season (and only year in the CAA) with a 1–10 record. The Panthers were not eligible for a post season berth (through neither the conference's automatic bid nor an at large bid) due to their reclassifying status as the team prepared to move up to FBS football in the Sun Belt Conference. This reclassifying status did allow for the Panthers to use more scholarships than the allowed 63 scholarships at the FCS level. On opening day Matt Hubbard surpassed the NCAA record for highest punting average in a single game, but it would end up not counting in the record books due to the reclassification.
Georgia State officially announced that it would join the Sun Belt Conference on April 9, 2012, during a press conference at the Georgia Dome. The school began full membership on July 1, 2013. Georgia State was a founding member of the Sun Belt Conference in 1976. The Sun Belt participates in Division I FBS, as opposed to FCS. The Panthers were not eligible for postseason play until the 2014 season.
Trent Miles era (2013–2016) After Coach Bill Curry announced his retirement in August, the administration hired Parker Executive Search to help find potential candidates. On November 30, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the university had hired Trent Miles, head coach of Indiana State University. With Trent Miles' arrival as new head coach came the Panthers first complete change in uniform since the programs inception. The original uniform consisted solely of 2 different outfits; a blue home jersey with Panthers written across the chest above the player number and two white stripes on each arm; and a white away jersey with similar stylings, but with Georgia State written across the chest. Only a single helmet existed, blue and with the secondary GSU emblem on it. Both uniforms used the same white pants with panther heads on them. Initially, an anthracite colored helmet with "Panthers" written in stylized script across the sides was unveiled in April 2013, drawing criticism from fans due to its use of a non-school color and lack of GSU emblem. However, after a two-day-long social media event that had fans unravelling parts of a "puzzle", Miles' altered uniforms were unveiled, showing up to 12 possible variations. Two different jerseys were shown, a blue home jersey with white numbers and lettering and a white away jersey with blue numbers and lettering. Both uniforms included numbering on the sleeves and player names on the back. The uniforms also included three sets of pants, one pair copying the original whites, a blue pair, and an anthracite pair. Along with these changes, it was announced that the original blue helmet with the GSU insignia on it would still be available as a part of the uniform and would be worn at homecoming. Before each game, the seniors and captains decided which combination will be worn that week. The uniforms drew praise from Atlanta area fashion professionals, who cited it as "a modern take on a classic style."
During his tenure as head coach, Miles would oversee the transition of football from the FCS to the FBS, the highest level of football in the NCAA as members of the Sun Belt conference. With this move came a significant increase in opposition quality, as well as an increase in the number of scholarships available for the team. During the transition year from FCS to FBS, and the first year in which Miles coached, the Panthers would achieve zero wins, accruing a final record of 0–12, 0–7 in conference. While the following year would mark only a single win against the lone FCS opponent, the 2015 season would end with a 6–7 record, 5–3 in the Sun Belt and a loss at the Panthers' first bowl game, the Cure Bowl. The 2016 season would see only three wins, and after the tenth game, Miles was relieved from duty as head coach, leaving Tim Lappano as interim head coach for the final two games.
Shawn Elliott era (2017–2024)
On December 8, 2016, South Carolina offensive line coach Shawn Elliott accepted the head coaching position at Georgia State, causing the Panthers to start the 2017 season with a new head coach and in the newly acquired Georgia State Stadium. Elliott had coached under Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp in Columbia and had served as the Gamecocks interim head coach between Spurrier's resignation and Muschamp's hiring. Elliott signed a five-year contract with Georgia State that paid him a base salary of $515,000 annually.
The Panthers finished 7–5 in 2017. They began the season on a sour note; dropping a 17–10 game to FCS opponent Tennessee State and a 56–0 shutout to No. 5 Penn State. Elliott's team won its first game of the season in their third contest, defeating Charlotte by a shutout score of 28–0. Georgia State was scheduled to play Memphis on September 30, but due to the Tigers having to reschedule American Athletic Conference opponent UCF for September 30 due to Hurricane Irma, the game between the Tigers and Panthers was canceled. On October 7, Georgia State defeated Coastal Carolina by a margin of 27–21. They earned their third straight win on October 14 with a 47–37 victory over Louisiana-Monroe, a game in which the offense set a school record with 670 total yards. After a 34–10 loss to Troy, the Panthers won their next three; defeating South Alabama by a margin of 21–13, Georgia Southern by a score of 21–17 and Texas State by a margin of 33–30. Georgia State closed the regular season with a 31–10 loss to Appalachian State and a 24–10 loss to Idaho. The Panthers accepted a berth in the 2017 Cure Bowl, a game they won over Western Kentucky by a score of 27–17. Coach Elliott resigned as head football coach from Georgia State in February 2024.
Dell McGee era (2024–present)
On February 23, 2024, Georgia State announced former Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee as its fourth head coach for the football program.
On September 14, 2024, Georgia State defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores out of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) 36-32 at Center Parc Stadium. It was Georgia State's first time hosting an SEC opponent, and their first victory against an SEC team since beating the Tennessee Volunteers on the road in 2019. Incidentally, Vanderbilt would go on to beat the then top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide three weeks later.
Conference affiliations
Independent (2010–2011) Colonial Athletic Association (2012) Sun Belt Conference (2013–present)
Head coaches
Bill Curry Georgia State's first head coach Bill Curry was the initial architect for the program. His tenure ended with a record of 10–23. Initially hired by the former athletics director Mary McElroy, after her termination by previous Georgia State president Carl Patton, Curry was named interim athletic director while the school searched for a new AD. During his tenure as head coach, Curry saw the program grow from an idea into a fully fledged division I – FCS team. He also was present for the beginning of the transition from the football championship subdivision (FCS) to the football bowl subdivision (FBS) as the school changed athletics conferences from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Sun Belt Conference. While Georgia State built the foundations for its football program with him at its helm, including new practice facilities and offices, Curry's teams experienced little success on the field. After a 6–5 record in its first season, the Panthers followed with a 3–8 record in its second season, and finally closing with a 1–10 record in his final year. However, the university honored its founding head coach by naming the locker rooms at the new football practice facility after Curry.
Trent Miles