Georgia Southern Football: 3 potential head coaching candidates

1. Dell McGee, Georgia AHC/RB Coach

Why not pluck away another Georgia football assistant to be the next head coach? It paid off with Erk Russell.

Dell McGee has been with the Bulldogs since 2016 when Kirby Smart was hired as Georgia’s head coach. He served as the Georgia Southern running backs coach from 2014-15, their first two seasons as an FBS program.

His only collegiate head coaching experience came when he was the interim head coach of Georgia Southern’s first-ever bowl game in 2015, a 58-27 rout over Bowling Green in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

He played football at Auburn from 1992-95, and returned as an analyst in 2013, the year Auburn won the SEC Championship and played Florida State in the BCS title game.

Prior to becoming a coach in college football, McGee was the head coach of Carver-Columbus High School in Georgia. He went 88-19 from 2005-12, winning six region championships and one state championship.

He coached two future Bulldogs and NFL players while he was with Carver-Columbus, including future All-American linebacker Jarvis Jones and 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year running back Isaiah Crowell.

In his time in Athens, McGee has helped UGA live up to the moniker of “Running Back U”. RBs that he has coached include Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and D’Andre Swift, all of whom were early NFL draft picks.

McGee has proven to have success everywhere he goes, both in winning games and developing players. His various coaching gigs and experience of recruiting in the state of Georgia would help him excel at Georgia Southern.

It’s also worth noting that former Kirby Smart assistants are doing well for themselves as head coaches. Sam Pittman had Arkansas ranked in the top 10 this season, and Mel Tucker is undefeated in his second year with Michigan State.

Could the same success apply for McGee if he were hired by the Eagles?