Dell McGee is officially the new head coach of the Georgia State Panthers.

Georgia State made McGee’s hiring official Friday evening. McGee is the fourth head coach in the program’s young history.

A Georgia assistant for the past eight seasons, McGee thanked Kirby Smart for the opportunity at UGA.

“Thank you to President Blake, Athletic Director Charlie Cobb and the entire search committee for the opportunity to be the head football coach at Georgia State University,” McGee said in a released statement.

“I’ve spent 20-plus years coaching in Georgia. As a native of this state, this opportunity to develop student-athletes here has always been the blessing I knew I was preparing for.

“I am forever grateful for Coach Smart and the University of Georgia for supporting me in my dream of being of a college head coach,” he continued.

“Georgia State is primed for success. As a premiere institution in the best city in America, I can’t wait to lead the football program as we compete for championships.”

With the Bulldogs, McGee was one of the country’s top recruiters. As Georgia’s running backs coach, he helped four ball carriers rush for 1,000 yards: Nick Chubb in 2016-17; Sony Michel in 2017; D’Andre Swift in 2018-19; and Elijah Holyfield in 2018. McGee also helped James Cook and Zamir White join Chubb, Michel and Swift as selections in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft.

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McGee has deep ties to the Peach State beyond his tenure in Athens. A Columbus, Georgia native, McGee coached high school football at Harris County (defensive backs, 2002), Greenville (defensive coordinator, 2003-04) and Carver-Columbus (head coach, 2005-12). He was on staff at Georgia Southern in 2014 and ’15 as running backs coach and assistant head coach, serving one game as interim head coach.

McGee succeeds Shawn Elliott, who resigned to return to South Carolina as an assistant coach.